Tattooed
by mushyface
Summary: Can a small, innocent tattoo really change someone's life? Multi-shipping -[ Bayley, Veronica Lane, Nikki Bella, Alexa Bliss, Brie Bella and Roman Reigns]
1. Chapter 1

**Decided to take a different route with the Covin story. Thanks Chelsie for all the help. **

**I own none of them.**

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**Corey's POV**

_"__Again?! Give me a break, Corey!" _

I don't bother to keep the phone by my ear to hear the rest of whatever my father has to say, I've heard this all before. The same speech I hear every time I change my major. Yes, I'm a junior in college and yes, this is my third time changing majors but what can I say? I'm a fickle guy. I shove my phone in my pocket and hear the muffled yelling as I open the door to my dingy apartment. It hasn't been cleaned since about last month and the smell is finally starting to catch my attention. I take a quick look around the apartment, passing the broken black couch, that we for some reason still keep. Probably because we're too broke to get a new one and that's our only piece of furniture for our "guests".

"Seth?" I call out, but get no response. He's probably at his soccer practice or some shit. Not that I mind, I dig my alone time, but it's cool to have someone to bullshit with every once in a while. I toss my books and papers from the college office on my bed and head to the kitchen for something to eat. The sink is filled with cans of beer and the counter with empty liquor bottles. We're broke college kids, but always end up finding money for booze. I reach the phone from my back pocket and place it on my ear. "I know, dad" I say, opening the fridge door searching through out the scarce freezer and then the fridge, I need to go food shopping soon. I shove the phone back into my back jean pocket, I know this speech like the back of my hand. I reach for the pizza box and grab a slice, taking a huge bite. Not as good as it was four days ago but it'll suffice.

I kick the door open to my room and toss myself on the dull mattress, devouring my stale pizza and retrieve my phone from pocket bringing it to my ear for what I hope will be the last of the ramblings for tonight. To be honest, I don't know why he gives a shit. He tossed me into a college that I didn't want to attend in the first place, with nothing but a 'good luck,son' and a slap on the back. I pay my own bills, tuition and everything else without a single dime from either of my parents, why does he care how many times I switch my major?

_"__We just want you to head into the medical field, son. And stay there." _

If I would've rolled my eyes anymore they would've stayed in the back of my head. I know exactly where this conversation is leading to and it's not what I'm trying to get into before my shift at the tattoo shop. Just as I'm about to answer him, I hear the jiggling of the door knob. The room door swings open and there's my roommate accompanied by an adorable brunette. Innocent looking, she's laughing at something Seth said I'm assuming? I think I've seen her around, I quickly jog through my series of one night stands, she doesn't seem _that_ familiar, but then again not a lot of them do.

"This is Devin" he introduces as he approaches my room and tosses his soccer crap into his room that's next to mine, she doesn't look up from her phone and stays closely behind Seth. She has this enormous black purse that have these two C's on it, one of them is backwards. Probably some hundred-dollar bag these girls are all into now. I watch as Seth navigates her to sit at the make shift dining table across from my bedroom, now I have the perfect view of her. Seth knows I have a way with the broads, why would he bring a possible potential for him to the house?

She walks cautiously over to the table and after giving the living room a quick once over, gives Seth a slight look of disgust, "I know, just sit for five minutes, I'm just going to shower and we'll be out of here" I could hear Seth faintly say with a chuckle,as he disappears out of my view. I already don't like this chick. It's a man's dorm, I'm not sorry it's not up to code for this princess. She keeps her face buried in her phone as Seth talks to her. She has some gorgeous body frame though and her legs…. Jeez. They'd look pretty nice on my sh- _"Corey! Are you even listening?" _My father's voice knocks me out of my inappropriate thoughts, and I'm barely listening as we finally make eye contact. She whispers something to Seth with her eyes still fixed on mine, I'm immediately intrigued. Is she talking about me? "Alright, dad. My roommate just walked in and I have to talk to him about some stuff with him so I'll call you later, alright?" I lie, quickly hanging up and not awaiting his response.

She has her face in her phone again when I head out to the living-dining room where she's sitting. She peers up at me through her lashes as I get closer, I give her the ol' smile and wink, the girls always fall for my smile and wink. She looks up at me giving me her full attention,it never lets me down. "You have something in between your teeth" she states and then goes back to texting. Damn, whatever the hell is in my teeth! I quickly check my reflection, and use my tongue to clean my teeth. I try to think of a remark to throw at her but I can't, I just laugh. I'm slightly embarrassed for the first time in some time. "All set now?" I ask her flashing my smile again. She glimpses up bothered and gives me a nod accompanied with a shrug. What the hell kind of response is that, nod and shrug? Is she not sure if I still have something in my teeth?

"Dev, two minutes, alright?" Seth calls as he comes out from the bathroom and into his room. Stay away, Seth. I'm trying to get into your friends pants here. "Okay" she responds softly, causing my eyes to focus on her lips, it'd be nice to know what she can do with them. A smile begins to creep across my face at my thought. I mentally scold myself, and shake the thought from my head. This could be Seth's girl, keep your distance, Graves.

"You dating Seth?" I ask. She laughs, and shakes her head.

"So friends, I'm assuming?" she nods. "Best friends?" she nods again. "Childhood best friends?" She nods again not looking up from her phone. She's trying to ignore me, I've seen this pattern all too often, her eyes will stay on her screen for a bit , then she'll stare at her perfectly manicured nails, after that she begins to search in her bag for nothing probably. She's nervous, uncomfortable, am I really giving off the creeper vibe here? Usually broads are in my bed by now. Her eyes seem to be focused on something in the direction of my room. Probably my bed, I think confidently until I look over to find Paige's bra laying on my floor. Damn it, Paige! This is the second time this week, it's her way of marking her territory I'm assuming? I need to talk to her about this shit, her cock blocking is becoming a bit much. We both know we're looking at the same thing, I scratch the back of my head trying to beat her to the witty remark, but I'm drawing blanks.

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**Devin's POV**

This house is gross, this man standing in front of me isn't any better. If he wasn't so cocky, and arrogant I suppose he could be slightly attractive. I definitely shut him down with the thing in his teeth though, I thought he'd leave me alone after that, but he's relentless. That bra on his floor is a definite turn off, I wonder who the poor sap is that owns that.

I watch him walk to his room and kick the bra underneath his bed, "Why wouldn't you pick up your girlfriend's bra?" I call out to him, I'm such a bitch. He let's out an abrupt laugh and shakes his head, "I don't have a girlfriend" I roll my eyes, I hope he stays in his room. To my dismay he doesn't, he comes back out of the room closing the door behind him. He probably has a million bras tossed all over his floor, probably a shrine of bras so he could stare at them every day that he's so proud of. I really hate men sometimes, they get no better after high school, I don't know who started that rumor.

"What year are you in?" He asks, his voice bothers me.

"Sophomore" I answer uninterested. Maybe if I just give him an attitude he'll get the hint. I'm going to kill Seth for taking this long to get ready. I'm assuming he's having trouble getting into his skinny jeans, that's the only acceptable answer at this point.

"What's your major?"

I look up at him, I don't remember signing up to play twenty questions. He probably assumes he can get me into his bed with all these 'trying to get to know you' questions. "Journalism. You?"

"Oh you're finally interested in me?" he asks, amusing himself. I regret even asking. "I just switched to Liberal Arts" he answers with a small smile, sitting across from me at the table. He has nice eyes, and a nice smile. I would never tell him, but I can guess it's alright to think it.

He interlocked his hands and leans on the table as if he's about to share a secret with me, but a knock at the door stops him. He exhales annoyed and gets up to open it. A part of me kind of wants to know what he has to say while the other part of me is convinced it was some smooth line that he's used on half of the female population on campus before. As he swings the door open a pale, raven haired girl comes through the door "Hi, baby" she coos, greeting him with a peck on the lips. I scoff thinking back to his 'I don't have a girlfriend' remark.

Her head snaps in my direction, she gives me the once over, studying me closely. I recognize this girl, she's in my math class. She's from over seas and extremely intimidating, here on a soccer scholarship. When she's done boring a hole through my skull,her eyes fall back on his. "Who is tha'?" She asks aloud. That's a bit rude I'm sitting right here, but I'll be damned if I say something. I'm really not looking to getting my face pummeled.

"Seth's friend" He answers trying to hide how bothered he is, but he fails, at least to me it seems. "What's up why are you here? I have work in a bit" She's staring me down again and I could feel the blood rushing towards my face. Don't show you're scared, Devin. You're just waiting for Seth, you're doing nothing wrong.

"Is tha' who your here to see? Seth?" she ask and I nod immediately. The tension in her face eases a bit, but she still seems unsure. "Don' we have a class together?" I nod again, my words not finding their way to my mouth. "English?"

"Math" I choke out, twirling the ends of my hair around my fingers, it's a horrible nervous habit that I've never seemed to kick.

She nods, still eyeing both myself and him. "I just came to pick up wha' I left here las' night" she states walking towards his room but, turning back to see if there's any interaction between us.

Seth's door finally opens and I immediately jump out of my seat, "Let's go" I don't wait for him, I brush pass his roommate without a goodbye and head out the front door. That was the most uncomfortable I've ever been. I unlock my car and hop in, "I'm never coming to your house again, like ever" I tell him when he plops himself in.

"Oh, stop. You're just being over dramatic" Seth laughs

"Are you kidding me? You leave me there with.. What was his name?"

"You sat with him the entire time and didn't get his name?" Seth shakes his head.

I give him a light slap on across his chest. "We were only supposed to be there two minutes! He freaking has bras laying on the floors and the most intimidating girlfriend ever. I honestly thought she was going to kick my ass for just being there" I laugh. It's funny to me now but in the moment there was nothing funny.

"Paige isn't Corey's girlfriend, he just sleeps with her. He has a few of those that come and go, Paige is the main go to now. Until he gets bored with her, or she falls in love with him and he gives her the boot. Either way, it's not his girlfriend" Seth explains.

I tilt my head and look over at Seth as we come to a red light, "does she know he has other girls? Or is she like in denial?"

"Oh, she knows" he states very matter of fact, adjusting his hat and turning it more sideways. "She's made it known that they do whatever, and she will not have anyone else in the picture. She claims she's in it for the sex as well, but I could just tell she likes him. A lot."

"But who likes someone like that? He seems so cocky and just-" A shiver runs through my body. "He's like ..gross and uses women."

"Hey, listen, god bless. To each their own" he shrugs, running the palm of his hands up and down his jeans. "Anyway, enough about Graves, where are we going on our date?" he ask, pulling out his vibrating phone and begins texting.

I let out a burst of laughter and shake my head. "You are such a dweeb!" He smiles, and confusion washes over me. I can never tell if Seth's being silly when he makes comments like that or if he's really being serious. We've been best friends for as long as I could remember. Yes, we dated our junior year of high school, but there was nothing really there for me with him. I was so invested in us being friends that everything was just so weird when we were dating. I would kiss him and feel nothing, our dates were awkward and more of us talking about our common friends than anything else. His face the night I broke up with him will forever be embedded in my brain, I should've done it sooner. Regardless, he has never failed to be there for me when I needed him the most and I, for him. We're each others biggest critics and rarely ever agree on each other's significant other.

"You want to meet up with Dean?" Seth asks cautiously. He knows how I feel about Dean, I don't know why he even asks. It's mostly likely because he knows I won't say no. I throw my head back on my headrest and give him a face. "He's not that bad, Devs" he tries to convince me.

"Is Veronica with him? I'm only going if she's there" I sound bratty, but sometimes I really just can't stand Dean.

"Yeah, she's there" Seth answers, rolling his eyes. "I can't stand Veronica. Turn here, they're at the pizza spot" he directs as he continues to type.

"And I hate your best friend" I snap back at him. How dare he say that about Veronica, she's harmless. Most of them time, anyway. "Anyway, this should be a quick and painless dinner and I can get home to Bayley for movie night" I respond, following his directions.

I pull into the spot and say a silent prayer, asking to be given the patience to deal with this douche. I spot Dean standing in front of the pizza restaurant smoking his cigarette. But I don't see Veronica, I was promised Veronica. I walk behind Seth over to Dean and give him a small smile.

"Hi asshole, Veronica's inside" He responds.

My smile instantly fades and I want to deck him in the face. Every time I see him, I wonder how he ends up with the women he does. Also, that I never understood why he couldn't stand me. I take a deep breath and pretend I didn't hear him, "…thanks"

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**THANKS FOR READDINNGGGG .. [ THANKS QUEENCHELSIEAMBROSE FOR THE CHANGE OF SCENERY AND SUGGESTIONS - SHE WORKS MIRACLES ] REVIEWS WOULD BE NICE. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Seth's POV**

I walk into Psychology around my usual time, five minutes earlier than anyone else and throw my bag on the chair in front of me. It's a bit of a ritual, I always save her late ass a seat. I don't think she's been on time to this class once since we started. I remember the first day she walked in all flushed and what not. She had just broken up with the football player, Reigns. He's what I consider one of my closest friends, but when I saw her that morning, all I wanted was to kill him. Her had hurt her and that was a big no, in my book. Her eyes were bloodshot and puffy from crying the night before. She didn't call me that night, and I still don't know why. Regardless, when she saw me, her face read relief. I smile thinking of her face, now that is pure perfection. I love everything about her, the way she moves, the way she talks, the way her hair smells. No one will ever compare to her.

A pair of tiny hands begin to gently massage my shoulder blades, knocking me out of my thoughts. I watch as the blue and blonde strands of hair fall on my shoulder, as her arms wrap around my chest. The smell of her Japanese Cherry Blossom mist enters my nostrils. I smile hearing her tiny voice, "Hi, handsome" she coos, letting her lips linger on my cheek. "I missed you last night" she whispers into my ear. Immediately, I feel guilty for thinking of _her_ in such a way. Here in front of me I have this beautiful girlfriend, who missed me and wanted to be with me last night and _she_ overtakes my mind.

"I missed you too, Lex" I meet her smile and pull her chair closer to mine. Her eyes never leave mine, and sometimes I honestly believe she could sense what I'm thinking about.

I met Alexa a few months ago at a frat house, there was a massive party being thrown for the football team who had beaten their division rivals that night. It was probably one of the biggest celebration parties to date. Devin spotted her first, and all night kept trying to convince me to talk to her. I had my reasons for staying away, one being she was a freshman and myself a junior, but Devin was so adamant about us talking she planted the seed and the rest is pretty much history. It's been a good four months for us, she's understanding, sweet and overall just a great person, sometimes I forget she's 18. I just wish I had more time to spend with her, my soccer practices and games take up so much of my time. I'm a lucky guy, she never questions me, or complains about my schedule. She just takes it for what it is and cherishes the time we can spend together.

"You need to do your blonde side again" she says, carefully tucking my hairs into place. I let out a small chuckle, placing my hand on her thigh. Her bright blue orbs looking down at my hands and back at me with a huge smile. She's always so happy, her nickname 'Bliss' suits her so well, she always lived up to it. "How was your manly man's, dinner last night?" she asks in a mocking tone. "That I couldn't attend" she adds, jokingly rolling her eyes.

I lied. _Again_. "Uh, it was good- "

"Aww, Devin. Look at your masterpiece of a couple sitting right in front of us. How adorable" That voice, it's like nails on a chalkboard. It makes me want to rip my ears off of my body. One of the biggest assholes, girl or guy, I've ever come to know, Veronica Lane. Not only am I annoyed at her entire existence, but she was at dinner last night. If I know her, which I do, she'll try to bring it up several times throughout the class.

Devin pushes her out of the way lightly, with a small laugh and sits in the seat I saved for her. "Shut up and sit down, V" I hear her say. "And thank you for my seat as always" she tells me, blowing me a kiss. My eyes dart between the three women in front of me, someone is bound to bring this up and I'm plotting all possible cover ups.

"I love the blue in your hair, Alexa. So adorable, so much school spirit in one little package" Veronica tell her with a smile. I don't believe a single thing that comes out of her mouth, I feel like every compliment she gives is just fake. She can be patronizing in so many ways, even to Devin. I don't know how she could be friends with her. "Are you going to follow in Seth's footsteps next and do half of your head blue too?" she adds on.

Alexa takes a hold of my hand on her thigh and squeezes it, before letting out a unamused chuckle. "No, no. I leave that to my Seth" Alexa says sweetly, interlocking her fingers with mine. I don't know how anyone keeps composed around Veronica.

"Your Seth" Veronica repeats looking at Devin. "It was only a few years ago he was _your_ Seth, right Devin?"

Alexa is squeezing my hand so hard, I'm worried she'll cut off my circulation. My friendship with Devin has never bothered her, in fact, she welcomes it because she can talk to Devin about me. I look at her, and I can tell she's gritting her teeth. I look at Devin, wondering if she'll say anything. She doesn't. "You are really one of the most disrespectful people I've ever come across in my life." I fumed. "You are so lucky Dean's so googly-eyed over you he doesn't see how shitty of a person you are." Devin's eyes widen and she turns away slowly facing the front of the room, she's probably surprised I even opened my mouth. Hell, so am I to be honest. If looks could kill Veronica's glare could kill a small village. I don't regret what I said, but I'm sure her wrath would make me think twice.

Alexa lifts the hand she was clinging to and places a kiss on it, 'thank you' she mouths.

Our professor walks in and clears his throat, immediately grabbing the attention of everyone in the room. Thank god this man is here, I don't even want to know what Veronica would've started with next.

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**Veronica's POV**

Seth's little outburst towards me this morning is still lingering on my mind. I've thought of several ways of handling the entire thing, but nothing satisfies me. Him and Alexa are a new couple, a break up wouldn't affect either of them_ that_ much. I can cause a fight between him and Devin, but he'll just beg and beg until she forgives him. How ballsy Seth is when Dean isn't around though, hmm. I guess he underestimates how vengeful I am. I'm Veronica fucking Lane, my boyfriend is at my beck and fucking call.

I head into the campus cafeteria with my plan unfolding in my head, this should go well. I find the boys at their typical table with Devin and Alexa. Why is Alexa talking to Dean?! This little frosh is starting to annoy the shit out of me. Maybe I should change plans and start ruining her and Seth. I quicken my pace and throw myself in Dean's lap, pushing my lips onto his mid sentence. He's a little taken back at first, but it doesn't take him long to return the kiss. I feel his hands moving up my inner thighs and I pull away with a coy laugh. There, that should be the end of that. I feel him push me back a bit and he's back to talking to Alexa, right in front of me. I try hard to hide how annoyed I am. If Seth hadn't insulted me earlier, I would flirt with him to show these two jerks.

"Babe, go sit over here. I'm talking to Alexa" Dean says pointing to the seat next to Devin across the table, as he shoves me off his lap. Is this really happening to me right now? Alexa is taking priority over me?!

"Fine" I respond, my eyes locked on his and not in a good way. I plop myself next to the other love of my life. "Devin, good lord, put some make up on. You look like death!"

"I don't have anything with me" she answers, with a shrug. Nothing with her? She can't possibly be telling the truth. No respectable woman leaves their house without some make up. I grab her bag, rummaging through it. Nothing but books. No wonder she's single.

I toss her bag back at her and pull out my make up bag from mine, "how lucky are you to have me in your life?"

"So lucky" she cheeses, giving me a sarcastic two thumbs up.

She starts doing her make up and my attention is back on my man and this little fairy looking thing. "So what are you two talking about?" I interrupt.

Dean smiles at me, he's so in love with me it's adorable. "Babe, remember I was telling you about my dad, and about him being in and out of my life all the time?"

I nod, this story sounds familiar but I'm not really sure. I'm a horrible listener when people start to get 'deep'. "Yeah, so Alexa's uncle was pretty close with him, and she remembers him from when she was younger."

"Wow, so cool" I try to say as interested as possible. I inconspicuously place my hand in front of my mouth and lean towards Devin. "Who gives a shit, Cincy's is a shit hole."

Her head snaps in my direction and her eyes are about to pop out of her head. "That's so mean, Veronica" she whispers, shaking her head at me.

"What? I've said worse!" I don't know why she's shocked.

"Doesn't make it acceptable" I sense attitude in her response. Watch yourself, Devin.

I roll my eyes when I see the last three of this demented crew, approach the table. Bayley, Devin's younger sister, supreme-o virgin and biggest geek on campus. Accompanied by the Bobbsey Twins, Nicole and Brianna. I can' t stand either of the three, Bayley I'm nice to only because of Devin, obviously. The twins, I straight up despise them, especially Nicole. They have to know I do too, it's not like I hide it or anything. She and everyone else in this crew denies it but I know she wants my Dean. They all say it's just a best friend relationship that they both have but I know it's not. Little does she know that she has not the slightest chance in hell. She can stay in the friend zone where Dean left her.

The only thing that makes this whole invasion of the third kind okay is that there are no seats left at the table. Bayley's going around the table with invasion of personal space hugs and rarely sits or eats anyway. She's always running off to the library, or tutoring, I don't think she has any friends, if I'm being honest. That's why she does all this tutoring just to be able to talk to others. No one in their right mind would talk to her otherwise.

"Hey guys" Nicole greets putting her books down and grabbing some of Dean's food. "Dearonica" she teases, roughing up his dirty blonde hair. I hate when she touches him, my eyes are intently fixed on her every move. She peers over at me and gives a small smile, as fake as her tits. Dearonica, does she really think that offends me? I absolutely love that she knows he belongs to me, as well as everyone else on this campus. Keep spreading that around campus, honey. Dean Ambrose belongs to me.

"Oh my gosh. That's so great, like the best. I love when you call them Dearonica" Bayley laughs, wrapping her arms around me tightly. I'm sure it only last for a few seconds, but it feels like an eternity for me. This table went from mediocre to a freak show in a matter of five seconds.

"You know I hate that" Dean snaps at Nicole, she ignores him and laughs, kissing the top of his head. He reaches up, putting his hand on the back of her head to deepen the stupid kiss. Stop touching him! Stop touching each other! "Come sit" Dean tells her sweetly, pushing his chair out and patting his lap gently. No, no, no, no.

Just as she gets comfortable on his lap, I throw my face into my hands and start fake crying, the tears should soon follow, trust me. Right now I just want to make a scene. I get up from the table hearing Dean call my name but I don't turn back. I rush pass people in the cafeteria who are gawking at me while I cry aloud, and push the door open with all my might.

A few seconds later, Dean's arms are wrapped around me and he's cooing in my ear to calm me down.

_Take that Nicole_.

* * *

**Devin's POV**

Veronica tears, those are never good. I use to fall for them all the time but I've grown out of it. Now, Dean runs every time he hears her sniffle, she absolutely loves that. I watch them outside for a bit with the rest of the table, but nothing seems to be happening.

"Bets on what she's crying about?" Seth pipes up and the table chuckles. I don't like when he gets a laugh at Veronica's expense.

"Come on! You guys, cut it out, it's not her fault she's overly emotional sometimes." I defend. All eyes land on me. "What?"

"Is that what you call what she did this morning? Being overly emotional?" Seth asked peeved.

"No, that was wrong-" I begin, but he cuts me off before even letting me finish.

"And you didn't defend me"

I'm taken back by how annoyed he is at me. "I'm sorry?" he doesn't acknowledge my apology, so I go back to applying my eyeliner in the compact mirror. Veronica and Seth have always been at each other's throats, since we were in high school. When she found out I was dating him she nearly had a heart attack. I learned to stay out of their arguments as much as I can, until I can't anymore. "You know she doesn't mean to offend" I say under my breath.

"Oh, she totally means it" Nicole chimes in. "Her comments are thoughtfully planned and executed for perfect timing. Take it from me, who's been at the end of them since her and Dean started dating"

I roll my eyes, "I'm not saying she's not a bitch, she is. I just don't think she comes across as bad as you all are making her out to be"

"Clearly, she placed the same set of blinders that she placed on Dean, on you" Seth scoffs.

"Hey, leave Devin alone!" Bayley shouts at Seth. My little sister, always quick to defend me. I love that about her.

He looks as though he's going to lash out at Bayley. "Seth, don't even" I reprimand, turning and facing my sister. "anyway, Bayles..-"

"Corey!" Bayley shouts, ignoring me and waving her hands excitedly. There has to be another Corey on this campus right? There is no possible way she knows _that_ Corey.

"What's up, Bayley?" He greets, so suave and carefree. I look up at him, as I'm placing Veronica's things back into her small make up. Damn it, it's him. He looks different today, handsome. Not as disheveled and grungy as he did the night before.

"How'd your math test go?" She asks, going over and giving him one of her huge hugs. I'm not liking this at all. I hope he's not trying to work on my sister, I'll kill him. She's a perfect innocent little thing, that should not be ruined by the likes of a womanizer.

"It went okay, I think" he smiles, "You're a life saver, kid" he pats her shoulder. "So, about tonight-" he begins but my attention is brought to the screaming lunatic coming towards our table. It takes me a minute to realize it because I'm caught of guard by the yelling, but it's Dean. He's coming right for Seth!

He yanks Seth's chair out from the table and picks him up by the collar of his shirt. I immediately rush over trying to get in between them, the cafeteria has fallen eerily quiet, and all I can hear are the people at our table trying to calm Dean down at a safe distance. I can not let him hurt my best friend. I've seen this look in Dean before, during a party. Veronica claimed someone was flirting with her and he beat the kid so bad he almost got kicked off the lacrosse team and expelled altogether. Veronica's dad saved him, he's the dad that knows people, that know people, you know? "Dean, what are you doing?! Stop!" I yell but his eyes are fixed on Seth alone.

"That's how you talk to my girlfriend? You talk to her like your hot shit because I'm not around?!" He shouts, still keeping his grip on Seth with all of his strength.

"Dean, I have no idea what you're talking about" Seth responds calmly. How can he stay so calm when lunatic Dean has reared his ugly head? Seth was there for that fight, he knows what he's capable of. "I honestly can't think of anything I said to her that would make you this mad" he continues. God, Seth just shut up, you're going to get killed. He's gazing out towards the glass windows of the cafeteria, he's staring out at Veronica.

"So she's a liar?! That's what you're saying?!" Dean growls.

I feel myself getting gently pushed out of the way and look up to find Corey replacing me. He steps in between them, placing both of his hands on both of their chests. "I'm going to need you to back up" he tells Dean sternly. No one budges. I find it kind of sweet that he's standing up for his roommate. Focus, Devin! Your friend is about to be murdered in front of your eyes.

"Dean, please! That's your best friend" Nicole begs, nothing. "If you don't let him go right now, I'm never speaking to you again!" immediately Dean's expression softens a bit. He looks over at her, and after a few moments releases Seth with a hard shove.

"Seth, I love you dude, but if you ever disrespect Veronica again I will hurt you. I will make sure you never fucking speak again." He says coldly. He turns his attention to Nicole, grabbing his bag and throwing it over his shoulder, "You're so lucky I love you" he tells her, as he begins to walk out."Stop lying to Alexa about going to dinner with Devin, and then you wouldn't be so on edge, treating my girl like shit." He shouts as he gets to the door and heads out to Veronica. We watch them as they walk away, Veronica smiling placing kisses all over the side of Dean's face.

"Yeah, please defend her more Devin. Tell me that this is a product of her being overly emotional" he hisses, grabbing his things and pushing pass me. I think about going after him, but Alexa beats me to it. I'll catch him at some point tonight.

I have to deal with Veronica first.

* * *

**WOOOOO .. REVIEWS WOULD BE WONDERFUL. THANKS A MILLION**

**Also, thanks Chelsie for your add ins. You're the best. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Bayley's POV**

I run up the stairs to our apartment, swinging the door open and tossing my book bag on the couch. "Devin!" I shout. I have a small bone to pick with her and I've held it in all day.

"In here" she calls from what sounds like her bedroom.

I walk in, tapping the top of her feet, so she gives me some room to sit at the edge of her bed. She's intently staring at something on her laptop. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing, just trying to find some make up on Sephora. Veronica said I should add some color to my face" she smiles, not looking up.

Good lord. I roll my eyes, annoyed that she would even listen to anything that horrible person would suggest.

"What's that for?" She asks

"Huh?"

"You rolled your eyes. What was that for?"

"I just wish you wouldn't listen to Veronica so much" I answer, looking down at my fidgeting fingers. I lost my nerve the moment I walked in. "I know she's your best friend and all, but sometimes.. Sometimes I, and everyone else, feel like she has something up her sleeve. She's just so jealous, of everything and everyone. Especially you" I let out all at once.

She chuckles, running her fingers through her hair. "First of all, she has nothing to be jealous of, we all know this. Secondly, it's just her demeanor, she's not really all that bad."

I try to think of a way to say this nicely. If there's one person Devin gets defensive over besides myself, it's Veronica. I want to get the message across, but without causing an argument between us. "So let's talk about today in the cafeteria.." I stare at her waiting for a reaction, but she's focused on her laptop still. "So we all know who sent Dean in after Seth..." I say it slowly and calmly, still no eye contact. "It was Veronica"

Her eyes finally meet mine, and she looks like she's going to blow a gasket. "Who said that? How does anyone even know that? It's Dean Ambrose, he loses his cool all the time!"

She's upset, I hate when she's upset. However, I promised our friends I'd mention it to her. "Everyone just sort of agrees that it was her. You saw her when they walked away, she was smiling and kissing him" I start off strong but my voice sort of trails off and gets lower, even though I don't want it to.

"I'm not getting into this with you, Bayley. It's not Veronica's fault Dean just can't control himself"

"Was it also Dean's fault when at your fourteenth birthday, she caused a scene and told you she hated you because you both had on the same dress. That you both planned on, may I add. She was just so jealous that you looked good that she bitched and moaned the entire night and made you cry!" I snap.

She blinks a few times before answering, "we were 14, Bayley"

She got me there. "Ok, your prom night! Was that Dean's fault when she got so wasted and blamed you for the alcohol in the limo but it was really her! You took the blame for it and got in so much trouble by mom and dad" I rebuttal.

She sighs loudly, directing her attention back to her laptop. "You're overreacting. Those are small things. Stop it"

I suddenly become infuriated, she's not even listening to me! She stands up from her bed heading into the kitchen and I'm right on her heels. Something has to get through to her. And then, it hits me.. "Or was it Dean's fault that she was so mad at the fact that Randy Orton liked you instead of her, that she told the entire world, you were adopted. After she promised you she would never tell anyone or throw it in your face!" I cover my mouth shocked at my own words.

Devin stops in her tracks and turns to me. Her eyes look as though they're watering up, now I feel like shit. "You didn't have to bring that up, Bayles" her voices shakes.

My heart feels like it's in my throat. She looks the same way she did that day she got home from school. Betrayed, and hurt. "I'm sorry" I immediately blurt, but she doesn't respond. She just stands there staring at me. Yes, it was completely wrong of me to bring up something that hurt my sister so much, and I didn't mean too. I just wanted her to see what we all did.

"So.. What are we having for dinner?" She asks, finally breaking the silence.

My sister has this amazing gift of being able to switch off all her emotions. I know it's not the safest way, but that's the way she copes. Growing up, it use to worry me and I would try my hardest to get her to speak about her feelings but as time went on, I realized there's no breaking into Devin's vault. "I'm actually going to a wrestling show" I answer softly.

She nods and opens the door to the fridge, searching for something to eat I'm assuming.

I don't want to leave her alone like this, especially after what I just brought up. Ugh, sometimes I hate my impulses. "You can probably come if you want. I'll just text my friend!"

"Wrestling isn't my thing, Bayley" she answers, still staring into the fridge. "Who are you going with anyway?" Her voice is cold, and I don't really blame her.

"No one, just by myself" I answer, tracing the tiles on our kitchen counter top. "It's right downtown"

"You're not going by yourself" she insists.

"But I have no one else to go with, and I promised him I was coming!" I don't know if she's doing this to look out for me or because she's still annoyed at what just transpired. "I'm 18, I can do what I please"

"Then, I'm telling mom and dad!"

I gasp, narrowing my eyes at her. "You wouldn't"

She lifts up her cellphone, swaying it back and forth in her hand. "Try me"

"Devin, please! I never ask anything of you. Just come with me! I'm sorry okay? I'm sorry for bringing things up about Veronica , I'm sorry for bringing up things she did. Just, come on, come with me!" I beg. I sound pathetic but I don't care, I've been promising Corey that I would go to his events for a few weeks now and always let him down.

She tosses her head back, defeated. YES!

"You're coming right?! I can text him that I'm bringing a guest?!" I squeal excitedly.

"Let's get some food first and then... Yeah, I guess " she says hesitantly shaking her, and walking into her room. "I can't believe I just agreed to this.." She says shutting the door to her room. " I thought we got over the wrestling stage!" She yells with a hint of amusement.

* * *

**Corey's POV**

I collapse flat on back, my heart pounding and I'm panting heavily. She may be a little crazy, but she's definitely one of my favorites in bed. I take what feels like the last ounce of energy in me and lift my head to peek over at her. She's breathing heavily, laughing, sighing.

"Corey. Oh my god, Corey" I hear her quietly moaning my name still in between breaths. She turns over on her side and throws her arms across my chest, placing kisses up my neck. She reaches my lips, kissing me hard, lightly sucking and nibbling on my bottom lip. Grabbing my forearm, she pulls me on top of her never breaking the kiss, while she positions herself on to her back. I feel her legs wrapping around my waist, and begin to chuckle.

"Wha' is so funny?" She asks annoyed, unwrapping her legs. She pushes her hands into my chest trying to get me off of her.

"Nothing.." I shake my head, grabbing a hold of her two hands with my one, smiling down at her. I kind of feel bad, knowing this will never be anything more than random sex. When she looks at me, like she is now with her big brown orbs - I can tell she's falling for me. She really is beautiful, don't get me wrong. She's strong, confident, funny and that accent, good lord that accent. She's everything any guy would want. Except, me. She reaches up pushing my hair back and lets her hand slide gently down my face. I pull away and move off of her petite frame.

She sits up on the edge of my bed with a huff, running her fingers through her hair. She seems as though she's deep in thought as she rises from the bed and walks into the living room. "Your clothes are over here" I call out.

She comes back, leaning on the door frame. "I'm jus' going to get a drink, I'm not leaving jus' yet" she snaps.

I throw my hands in the air, sitting up in my bed. I can not stand when she lingers. It makes everything awkward and harder when I have to kick her out.

"I have nowhere to go, ya know?" She yells as she walks to the kitchen.

"Yeah, but, I do" I answer, getting up from the bed and sliding into some basketball shorts. I make my way to the kitchen to find her leaning on the fridge door, gulping a beer. I check the clock for the time. If I had a more of it, she'd be bent over the dining room table right now. She makes it really fucking hard to be productive at times. "Go , get some clothes on, Paige." Trust me, it hurts to turn away from this perfect frame in front of me, but I have a show to get ready for and tonight's pay-day. I walk away heading towards the bathroom, and hear her following behind me.

"Why are you always in a rush to get me out of here?" She calls as I reach the bathroom. "Someone else coming over?

I close my eyes and inhale deeply, I'm so fucking tired of having this conversation. She goes bat shit, regardless of how I answer. "How could I? You've scared all of them away" She sucks her teeth and stands with her arms crossed on her chest "I have a match tonight, Paige. Are we done?"

"Y-yeah, I guess so" she replies, hurrying towards the bedroom.

I shrug it off and quickly shower, trying to move as quick as I can to make it to the venue with enough time. I walk into my room to find Paige sitting on my bed in my sweat pants and her t-shirt, staring down at her feet. "You alright?" I ask, even though I see the disappointment on her face.

She nods, and gets up handing me my phone. "Bayley said she's bringing someone with her tonight"

Reading through my text messages again, I see ".. thanks" I snatch my phone away and throw it on my bed. This is the crazy shit I'm talking about, but when I confront her I'm the bad guy.

"Can I come tonigh'?"

I knew this was coming. I nod, continuing to get myself ready. I'm not in the mood to fight, if I had denied her, I could only imagine the argument that would've ensued.

"You don't seem to happy about it"

I turn around and see her standing in front of me, almost attempting to block me in a way. "Paige, please. I'm getting my shit together! You wanna come? Great. You don't want to? It wouldn't bother me."

"Who's Bayley going to bring?" She questions, with her hands on her hips.

"Paige! I have no fucking clue!" She's aggravating me now.

She pouts at my reaction "I'll leave you alone then" she responds, her voice low.

"Alright, fine. Bye" I dismiss. She comes over to kiss me, but I turn away. I'm not in the mood nor interested. I don't even bother to see the reaction on her face, I just wait until I hear the opening and closing of the door. "Finally"

* * *

**Devin's POV**

The air in this building smells of stale beer, sweat and mold. The sound in here is deafening, there's no one in the ring but the chants between one side of the room and the other continue. It's so crowded I can barely keep up with Bayley as she easily slides her way through the sea of shouting patrons. I could feel my heels sticking to the floor as I try to keep up with her, I guess this wasn't a good place to wear them. I hate my decisions sometimes.

I squeeze through two huge, and apparently deaf guys who couldn't hear my excuse me's and finally catch up to Bayley, gripping on to the hem of her shirt for dear life as we make it to our seats. I'm completely out of my element and I'm almost positive everyone I passed on my way to the seats knows it. "This is going to be so much fun!" She claps excitedly with a huge smile. "And front row seats!"

I laugh at her excitement, and look around the small venue taking in the scenery. The lighting in here blows, and so does their cellphone reception. I figured I would entertain myself while we were here, but I guess I'll be paying attention to the wrestling.

"I'm going to get some beers" Bayley says, walking back out of the aisle. "You want?"

"I just sat down, I'm not walking through all that again" Did she not see me struggle to even get here in the first place?

"Alright, I'll get it" she rolls her eyes. She sticks her hand out and waits for me to supply the cash. I hand her a twenty and watch a smirk creep across her face as she walks away. She's making fun of me, for what? I'm not really sure, but it could be a plethora of things at this point.

The ringing of the bell startles me and I jump, looking towards to the center of the ring. The announcer climbs in, reading off the index cards in his hand. Whoever he just announced has awakened the crowd even more so than what they were, the boo's are overwhelming. I watch has this half-naked man strolls down the aisle, taunting and slapping drinks out of the on looker's hands, only the metal barricades keeping them from one another. Music blares through the speaker, exhilarating the crowd. They're all bowing as if this guys some sort of Messiah or something. The bell rings again, signifying the beginning of the match and the two men in the ring are at each other's throats from the jump.

"WE WANT BLOOD!" the guy directly behind me screams, with the surrounding crowd cheering on his statement.

Where the hell did Bayley bring me?! I take out my phone to text her but there's no service. My heart starts pounding, I know I told Bayley I could handle whatever this was, but now, I'm not sure I can. I know my sister would never put herself or I in danger, but I'm really not feeling the safest right now. I'm surrounded by heathens screaming for people's blood? This is not what I signed up for. Where are the characters like Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior? Eat your vitamins and say your prayers, is that not what wrestling is anymore? Dad would have a conniption if I told him where and what we were doing. My chest feels like it's tightening and I try taking a few deep breaths to calm myself down but, Bayley is taking way too long to get these beers. I'm going to find her, I grab my bag and stand up quickly, looking through my bag for my phone when I bump into someone. "Oh! I'm so sor-" I begin, but the dark orbs narrowed at me don't look like they'll be accepting any apology.

"Hey, sit down, princess! You're blocking my view!" Someone yells from a few rows back.

I'm like a deer in headlights, my hands are shaking and my mouth has gone dry. She stares at me, waiting for me to finish my apology. "I- I- I'm sorry" I finally let out.

"Wha' are you doing here?" She asks coldly, pushing past me and sitting where Bayley was. Do I let her know that's my sister's seat? She taps the metal chair where I was, signaling me to sit.

Seth's roommates girlfriend, or whatever she is. Ugh, I forget her name. Something with a P.. Paige! It's Paige, I think? I'm almost positive. I follow her order and slide down into the seat beside her while I fight internally about what her freaking name is. Her eyes are intently watching my every move. Fuck, why do I feel as if I'm doing the wrong thing when she's around. I give a small shrug in response. I don't even know what I'm doing here, if I'm being honest.

"Who invited you here?" She inquires, her jaw's clenched. She runs her nails through her hair impatiently, and brings it all to her left side. She gives me the once over and laughs when she spots my shoe apparel. "Little fancy for tonigh' don't you think?" She heckles.

What a bitch, she's like some type of bully. Given, I'm a pretty easy target but still. "I'm here with my sister" I answer, turning back to face the ring but watching her closely through the corner of my eye.

"Did Corey tell you to come?" She asks leaning in.

"What? No!" I answer confused. "Not at all. I just came with my sister" I repeat enunciating the last sentence carefully.

"Paige!" I hear Bayley shout happily, as she hands me two plastic cups over flowing with beer.

"Hey there" Paige smiles, standing up and embracing my sister. I feel like I'm being mind fucked. She knows her too? Well, it makes sense actually, with how protective Paige is over Corey,it doesn't shock me she knows Bayley if he does.

"This is my sister Devin!" Bayley beams proudly. "It's her first time here"

Paige plasters on a fake smile, "We've met" she tells Bayley with her eyes glued to me. "I would've never guessed it" she sarcastically continues.

"Corey didn't tell me you were coming, we would've given you a lift here!" Bayley explains. Who's we? Cause I definitely would not have.

"I jus' sort of came to surprise him. I decided las' minute" I hear her say, as I move over to the next available seat, leaving Bayley to sit between us. Good, she'll be my barricade.

"Well, we have no problem giving you a lift back to campus. Unless, you're going with Corey" I would really appreciate Bayley not volunteering me to drive girls home that could snap my neck in half with one hand.

I quickly focus my attention to the match, blocking out whatever Paige's answer was.

They talk and laugh at whatever it is they have in common and I just watch the matches as they go on. It's not as bad as I thought it would be now that Bayley's back and I've got a couple of drinks in my system. I actually find myself clapping and getting lost in the matches. This is nothing like I've seen before and it's actually .. interesting, I guess I could say. I mean, I wouldn't make this an everyday outing but still fun.

"Corey's up next, he's the last match!" Bayley tells me excitedly, and I watch her and Paige stand up, leaning against the metal barricade as the announcer gets into the ring with his microphone calling for everyone's attention. So he's a wrestler, that's cool, I guess.

"Introducing first, from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Coming in at 208 lbs -" The volume exploded, and I could barely make out the rest of what the announcer was saying. Bayley turns me in the direction of where he was entering from while she cheered her loudest on top of her seat. Corey made his entrance, shirtless, and relaxed. Taking in the screaming, adoring crowd as if it was his energy source. He strolled over to our corner of the ring with a smirk on his face, giving a subtle nod at Bayley and Paige, he looked like this was just another day at the office for him. A shirtless day..at the office. I catch myself staring at him for way too long and shake it off looking down to grab my beer, looking over at Paige to see if she noticed. She didn't, thank god.

When the crowd had died down a bit the announcer continued, "Ladies, please hold all under garment throwing for the end of the match" causing a good laugh to take over the crowd. I shake my head at the thought of the action being done. "And help me welcome, Corey Graves!" Again, another thunderous ovation. I watched as he scanned the people in the crowd, handing out random winks here and there. I wonder how Paige handles that?

I'm distracted by the blaring of music through the speakers, and turn my attention back to the entrance ramp. The crowd booed and taunted his opponent heavily, but he seemed unaffected, bouncing up and down, and rocking his neck from side to side before walking down to the ring.

The matched seem quick but in reality, it was the longest one of the night. His character here is almost how he is from what I've met. A ladies man, confident with a bit of arrogance. It works for him, I suppose and the people loved it. He's really good at what he does too, I almost forgot from time to time that I was watching a show and with certain hits and kicks found myself wincing with him or his opponent.

I wait for some of the venue to clear out before standing up to get ready to leave. "Can we stay so I can just say hi to him?" Bayley begs, with her huge puppy dog eyes. I look at my watch, 12:30. I have class at 8am, and I really don't want to stay but we're already here and it would be mean if I just rushed her out of here. Ugh, damn me being so nice! I nod and sit back down, earning a tight hug from her. I'm going to be so fucking exhausted tomorrow.

About 20 minutes pass by before he comes out, dressed in his sweats with his hair perfectly gelled. The venue is empty, except for the three of us, and the workers who are sweeping, clearing chairs away and taking apart the ring. There's so much that goes into a two-hour show, it's quite fascinating. Paige gets to him first, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. She tries to place a kiss on him, but he dodges it and removes her arms from around him, so he can approach Bayley. He's such a dick, why do that to the girl you sleep with all the time?

"Thank you for coming, Bayles" he smiles, pulling her in for a tight hug, lifting her off her feet. I can see the jealousy radiating off Paige, and for a moment I feel sorry for her. She spends her time chasing this man, and he gives her nothing in return.

"I told you I was coming! I wasn't going to let you down!" Bayley laughs, as he places her down. She adjusts her headband and shoves her hands into her back pockets. "And, I brought my sister!" she grins, throwing her arm around my neck.

"Yeah, we've met before. Seth's friend" He responds, holding out his hand. I give him a quick shake and pull my hand away before Paige has a chance to rip it off. "Daniela, right?"

Oh, for god's sake. "It's Devin" I snap. His expression changes instantly, he looks sort of embarrassed.

"Right, Devin. Sorry" A hint of redness comes across his cheeks. Now, I feel bad for snapping at him. I can't win. "So, are we going out for drinks or what?" he asks, addressing us all.

I want to scream no at the top of my lungs but I wait for Bayley's answer instead. Regardless of what she chooses, I'm going with her.

"I don't think it's a good idea tonigh'" Paige pipes up. "We have classes in the morning and we should jus' leave it for another nigh'. Besides, I want to stay over, Seth's not going to be home and I want to try what you promised…" she announces, standing on her tippy toes and whispering in his ear. I'm immediately uncomfortable, she looks like she'd fuck him right here in front of us.

I'm not the only one either from the look on Bayley's face. "Okay then" Bayley says wide-eyed. "We're going to head out, do you guys need a ride?"

"Actually, yeah. My ride had to leave right after his match." Corey answers, again inching away from Paige. "I'll just grab my stuff from the back real quick" Paige follows him to the back, while myself and Bayley head to the parking lot.

"Who's driving?" Corey asks, as he approaches the car. I raise my hand hesitantly, why does he care? "Alright, I call shot-gun"

Paige's eyes dart between him and I, "Come sit in the back, Corey."

"I already called shot-gun. In America, that's a big deal" He answers, amusing himself.

I climb in slowly, and even think about offering Paige the driver's seat. I shake the thought away, when I hear my father's voice 'no one drives the car but you or Bayley'. He would kill me. I pull my heels off and toss them on the passenger side, making sure not to hit him.

"Did you just - Are you gonna drive barefoot?" He chuckles.

I blush, "yeah, the heels bother me when I drive"

"Cute" He smiles, and I feel a kick to the back of my chair.

"Sorry, mind moving your seat up?!" Paige asks. I comply, though I know she has enough room back there.

I stay quiet for most of the ride, and listen to his stories about his matches that had gone wrong. I inch my seat up at each red light we stop at, and I still feel her knees digging into my back. How am I getting punished for him?! I push down on the gas pedal, I need to get these two out of my car.

"You should come to the shows more often, Bayley" He says as we pull up to Seth's house. "And you could bring, Devin" he adds. The way he said my name, it gives me chills.

"I'm sure Devin didn't enjoy it, babe" Paige responds, getting out of the car quickly. She rushes to the passenger side and swings his door open. "Thanks for the ride, Bayley" she smiles, staring at me. My muse is currently flipping her off.

He looks over at me with a smile,"I'm not really sure that's true" he says in almost a whisper. He is flirting with me in front of her. He is trying to get me killed. Just get out, get out of my car! He sends Paige upstairs and waits for Bayley to replace him in the front seat before closing the door for her. "But, no really, come to another show" he smirks. "I'll make sure to leave Paige locked away somewhere"

A nervous laugh comes out of me and I hate it. "Ok, bye" I rush, pulling off before anyone can say anything else.

_What a fucking night._

* * *

**REVIEWS WOULD BE DELIGHTFUL.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Alexa POV**

I shoot up from my pillow hearing the obnoxious volume of the television. I didn't even realize it was this loud while I was laying here. I hope it didn't keep my roommate awake, she's such a light sleeper. I quickly pat around for the remote control on the bed, of course I can't find it. I hop over Seth's limp body wincing at the throbbing from the escapades earlier in the night.

"Don't, I'm watching" he calls out, and I jump nearly coming out of my skin.

"I thought you were sleeping!" I whisper, holding my chest. He smiles at me and shakes his head, pulling the covers up for me to climb back in. "lower this, you're going to wake up Jojo!" I demand. I jump on the bed, cuddling up next to him. He looks so exhausted, why isn't he asleep? I'm jolted from my thoughts feeling something poking at my back and I can't help but gaze up at him and giggle. I shake my head, men.

"Relax yourself" He rolls his eyes, reaching down between us. "It's the remote. You wore me out before anyway" he smirks.

I burst into a fit of giggles, grabbing his bearded face and kisses him hard. This guy, I'm so lucky I can call him mine. He's so ..perfect. Sweet, caring and nothing at all like any of his teammates or friends in general. He's just Seth, and that's what I love most about him. I mean, not like love, love. Or maybe love? I don't know, I'm just very, very, _very _fond of him. He has his faults of course, a little stupid lie here and there, getting way too emotionally invested in soccer and other sports. Oh, and then there's the mention of Devin every five seconds. I don't mind I know they're friends but can we have one conversation without being compared to or spoken about? "Why are you still up? You have practice in a few hours, you're going to be exhausted"

He shrugs, pulling me in closer to him."Just can't sleep, a lot on my mind, I guess" he answers before placing kisses from my temple down to my neck. I move my head over granting him more access, my fingers tangled in his hair.

"Well.. what .. are you thinking about?" I manage to let out, while he places light bites across my shoulder blades and then changing direction towards my chest. Good, god. Am I ready for round two? Probably not. I press my hands on his chest and slide out from under him a bit. "Tell me what's wrong, babe" I have a feeling it has something to do with Dean and that whole fiasco during my break. I never had a problem with him before and he was always rather nice to me but now that I've seen him in that light, I'm a little scared of him to be honest. However, deep down inside I feel like it's about Devin.

He tosses himself on his back, running his fingers through his hair. "Just everything that happened today. I'm pissed you were there to see that, I'm furious Dean let's that cunt do what she pleases"

I gasp hearing _that_ word. "I hate that word!" I remind him, slapping him on the chest.

"Ow! I know I'm sorry, but that's what she is, Lex" he insists, rubbing the area where I just smacked him. "She's a terrible person"

He's so annoyed, I can see it in his face and the way he's speaking. I've never really seen him this upset before over something that isn't sports. "Listen" I begin, and watch his big chocolate eyes fall on me attentively. "I know, you're upset but, Dean isn't .. you know, all there, I suppose" I shrug, not really knowing how else to explain his best friend. "Hopefully, it was just a one time thing and maybe, if more people spoke to him about Veronica he would maybe.. see it?" I know this is in no way, shape or form happening but, I'm here to give Seth hope. Possibly,to get some sleep as well.

He shakes his head," this is going to go on until they break up, and he will never break up with her because she's like got him out of so much trouble. He feels like he owes her, it's a shitty, shitty situation" he explains becoming more frustrated with the thought.

I think about asking him what Veronica could've possibly saved Dean from, that he couldn't save himself, but decide to leave that for another day. "Alright, babe.. I know he's your best friend and you care, but that's his life you know? You can't lose sleep over this, they've been dating for a long time and though we don't have to accept how she is, we just have to deal."

He groans, turning away from me. Ok, I guess we're going to sleep? I understand where he's coming from with Veronica, she is terrible. However, at the end of the day that's Dean's girlfriend and he just has to accept it. I mean, everyone had to accept him dating a freshman, right? He's taking out his frustration on the wrong person, but I'll let it slide. "Maybe tell Devin to talk to Veronica" I say before turning over myself, and shutting of the television. I shut my eyes tightly cursing myself for mentioning Devin's name.

He sits up immediately, "What about Devin?" Was that the only part of the sentence he heard?

"I said, maybe tell Devin to speak to Veronica" I repeat.

"She's on my shit list" he snaps, and I roll my eyes. He could never be mad at Devin, no matter how hard he tried. I don't know why he's being this way, "She didn't say anything to Veronica, twice! I'm through, I'm done with Devin"

"I didn't say anything either, are you mad at me?" I question. Though, it would make sense with the amount of force he was putting into his thrust.

"No. It's different with you" He begins, "Devin's just.. different" I remain silent, him lingering in his thoughts. Of course Devin's different, why wouldn't she be? "I'm gonna call her" he says, moving down to the foot of the bed. Mentally, I'm punching myself in the face relentlessly. I should've just waited until the morning on our walk in, to ask what the issue was.

"Babe, just leave it. It's one in the morning. Talk with her tomorrow" I insist, but he continues to call. I take in a deep breath, snatching the phone from him and sliding it across the floor. "This is my time with you, not Dean's time or Devin's. It's Alexa and Seth time! Now cuddle me, and let's go to fucking sleep!"

I feel him slowly making his way back over, wrapping his muscular arm around me and kissing the back of my head. "You're right. I'm sorry" he apologizes muffled into my hair. "Goodnight"

* * *

**Dean's POV**

"Come on, come on. Pick up, pick up, pick up" I yell exasperated into the phone. It's 12:45am and I'm fucking exhausted. I should be in bed sleeping, but well, I'm fucking not. I'm waiting for this broad to answer her phone. This is the third time I've called her in five minutes.

"Dean, what do you want?" She answers groggily. Fucking finally!

"Come downstairs, I'm in front of your dorm" I demand, hanging up immediately after. I don't bother awaiting her response, I know she'll be down in a few. I turn up the radio, letting the music take me away for a few minutes while I wait. I watch the light in the dorm turn off and I know she'll be down any second.

She swings the door open and throws herself in, Jeez what a grouchy little shit she is. "What's with the face, Nik?" I tease

She shoves me hard before pulling down the mirror and running her nails through her hair a few times. "This better be fucking good, that you had to wake me up, piece of shit"

I smirk, pulling out of the parking spot and out of campus. I just needed her with me for the drive to calm me down and get rid of my anxieties for the time being. Just me and my best friend. "You look tired"

"It's the middle of the night!" She yells with a laugh, shoving me again.

"Listen, I know you want me, but keep your hands to yourself, alright?"

She rolls her eyes, "Please, the only reason I have to keep my hands to myself is because Veronica may hop out of the trunk and strangle me for being with you alone" she snaps. "Where is the little shitbag anyway?"

I shrug, this isn't something I want to get into right now. "Don't talk about her like that" I advise.

"Oh, don't talk about her like that" Nikki mocks, "I'm going to kill everyone that talks bad about Veronica." she continues.

"Who's voice is that suppose to be?!"

"Yours! Who else!" She laughs, as she looks out the window. I love her laugh, it makes me feel at peace in some weird way. I love making her laugh.

"You hungry?" I ask, steering clear of the Veronica topic.

"No, but if you're hungry we can go to that diner that I like so I can get a milkshake" she flashes her smile and I'm basically putty in her hands.

We walk in to find the diner pretty empty, not that I expected any different, it's the middle of the night on a Wednesday. I spot some shit heads from campus in the back, but I direct Nikki in the opposite direction of them. Men always seem to forget their manners when they see her, and I fucking hate that. She's a human fucking being not a display at a museum for everyone to gawk at. Most importantly, she's my best friend, and no one will stare at my best friend. The waitress drops off our menus and I'm trying to read it and figure out what I want but my head is so clouded with other shit. I'm just staring at letters on this paper.

"Dean" She places her hand on mine and knocks me out of my thoughts, I look up to see the waitress back at our table. She didn't even give me time to look. "Uh, I'm not ready yet" I answer and watch her stare at me puzzled. "She wants your drink order, Dean" Nikki bites her lip, holding in a smile.

"Oh, Coke's fine" I answer, and go back to staring at the menu.

"What did she do?" Nikki asks, her voice hinting at annoyance. I don't blame her Nikki's pretty much tired of hearing my shit about V. Regardless, she never fails to not come down those steps when I call her. "Did she break up with you again?" her lips pursed.

"Why? Why do you assume that?"

"You're all quiet and not knowing what you want to eat. This isn't like you at all. Coming to get me at 1am, is pretty much a dead give away. What ridiculous shit was it this time?" she lets out all in one breath. Her eyes are fixed on me, there's no getting around this.

"I can't even tell you to be honest" I answer sheepishly. I hear it come out of my mouth and I sound fucking ridiculous but I really don't have a clue. "Something about the Seth shit" I shrug, I think that was it. I couldn't make it out with all the yelling and jumbled up text messages.

"That's like a blessing" she smiles. When she see's I don't return the smile, she shifts uncomfortably in her seat. "So what are you going to do now? Sulk? Go find another girl, Dean. You're a good-looking guy. I'm sure she's not wasting any time"

"What? No. Why, you think so?" My heart beat speeds up a bit, just thinking about it. Fuck. The thought of her with anyone else makes me want to rip shit apart.

"I don't know what she does, I mean I wouldn't put it passed her but that's my bias." she states confidently. "I definitely wouldn't go back to her though, you aren't going to go back if she calls, are you?" she asks, placing her hand over mine. She looks genuinely concerned.

I rub my face with my hands, trying to push all these thoughts out of my head. "I don't know" I answer simply. "I love her, Nikki. You don't just walk away from that"

She rolls her eyes, sighing loudly. "You just, I don't know, you're always in arguments or fights that she puts you in. You can't do anything without her knowledge, she needs to know your every move. Just fucked up, and weird" The waitress comes back, causing me to lose my train of thought, I tell her my order and watch her walk back to the kitchen. "You see, you see how you just watched that waitress sashay her way back to the kitchen, Veronica would have your eyes gauged out if she were here. I mean come on, you've broken up, what, 12 times already?"

"Nikki, please" I groan, gulping my drink. "She's not like that all the time"

"Dean, she tried to have you hurt Seth!" she shouts, slamming her hands down on the table.

I sit back watching the intensity on her face, "I know, that was fucking stupid. Seth's my boy"

"And she has this fucking hold on you, so fucking tight that you almost hurt him. You went like into this fucking zone. I'm surprised you even responded to me"

"It's because I love you" I admit and watch a smile begin to creep across that gorgeous face of hers. She places her hand over her mouth and looks away out the window.

"Just be smart about it this time, please" she begs, removing her hand from her mouth and using it to lean her chin on. "I'm so tired of seeing you in the middle of shit because of her. I don't want to ever get the call that you're in jail because of Veronica"

I nod "I think, I'm gonna take a break from her for a bit", I say and watch her eyes light up. Everything Nikki is saying is fact, I would never argue with her, but to be honest Nikki doesn't know what she's really like. Veronica and I love each other, there's just a lot of kinks to work out. I do have to seriously learn how to control my temper, I can't lose my shit on my friends. However, maybe, maybe a break isn't so bad.

I devour my food as soon as it arrives, and bullshit with Nikki about whatever's going on in her love life. Nothing, as usual. She doesn't like to admit it but, she's extremely picky. Every single person has a flaw or ten. Not that I blame her, Nikki's a very beautiful woman. Hell, anyone she dates has to get my approval before anything else.

"Anyway, so my birthday is in a few days" she beams, polishing off her milkshake. "Hope you decided on my gift"

"I have" I smirk, little does she know it's a swift kick up her ass. My phone is vibrating in my pocket but I ignore it. No one of importance could be needing me right now. "You thought of what you want to do?"

She shrugs, "Nothing crazy, just drinks"

I nod, continuing to give her my attention and ignore my phone. She smiles at me for a moment before something else catching her attention. "You ready to head out?"

"Yeah, that's cool" she says, bringing her attention back to me. She doesn't even wait for me to get up from the table, she walks ahead, getting on-line behind the same fool she was just gawking at. I laugh internally, she's such a nerd. I throw my arm around her neck jokingly and immediately she pulls my arm off and pushes away. "Dean" she grits through her teeth.

I walk away as he approaches her, she has her girly voice on. What a fucking dweeb. My phones going off again, frustrated, I yank it out of my pocket to find a ton of texts and calls from Veronica. I go to put it in my pocket and it starts vibrating again. I look back at Nikki seeing her distracted and head to the bathroom.

"Yea?" I answer coldly.

_"__I made a really big mistake, babe. I-i love you and you are my number one" she stutters._

"Are you drunk, V?" I ask, leaning all my weight on the wall closest to me. I miss her voice, it's only been a little while, but I missed it.

_"__Yeah, I'm sorry my Deany bear. I went out with some people and got really drunk. Can you get me?" _

I exhale loudly, I can't leave her drunk. That's just so many levels of wrong. "Y-yeah. Just tell me where you are" My phone beeps in my ear indicating it's almost dead.

_"__I am… Hold on, let me find out! Hey, Dolph, Dolph where are we?" _I hear her ask, with commotion in the background. Dolph, number one jerk off, that's who she's with?!

"Babe - Baby" I need to grab her attention before my phone dies, but all I hear are nothing but her giggles and muffled voices. "Babe. Veronica, my phones dying and I'm out" I yell into the phone, hoping she caught some of it.

_"__What? Who are you with? Where are you?" _I'm really not surprised that, that got her attention of all things.

"I just came out with Nikki to get food, text her phone alright. I'm going to give you her number-" I say slowly, praying she's comprehending.

_"__Dean you know I ha-" _I pull the phone away from my ear to see a black screen. "Piece of shit!" I let out, rushing out of the bathroom. I head quickly to the counter paying the bill for the both of us. I turn around and am greeted by Nikki and this douche bag.

"It was nice to meet you formally, Nicole" the tattooed fuck smiles at her. Yeah, I'm sure you give a fuck about her name, asshole.

"Call me Nikki" she replies, batting her lashes.

Oh, no he won't. "You call her Nicole" I butt-in, taking a hold of her forearm. I'm pretty sure she wants to rip out my throat but I don't care. I have to find Veronica, someway somehow.

"Well, I gotta go" she tells him, as I'm pulling her out the door."But it was nice to meet you, Punk" she giggles. Punk? What the fuck kind of name is that?

"Just call me, Phil" he calls after us.

I climb into the car, turning it on and screeching out of the place. I keep looking at my phone hoping it'll miraculously turn back on, but it doesn't.

"Why are you driving so fast? Slow down" She orders, snapping in her seatbelt. I can't, I need to get her home and go find Veronica.

"Hello?" I look to see Nikki on her phone. Don't tell me she gave that moron at the diner her number and he's fucking calling her already?! "Uhh, y-yeah sure. Hold on, Veronica" The way she said her name, as if it's poison. "It's _her_" she says, shoving the phone on my ear.

"Hey, I'm sorry my phone died" I state carefully. Nikki is shoving the phone into the side of my face so hard I feel like she's trying to make it apart of my face permanently.

_"__Dean! The rules are you are never with her alone! You know how I feel about her!" _I pray Nikki doesn't hear what she's saying. Though I doubt it with how loud Veronica's yelling. _"You're leaving her right? You're coming to get me?!" _

"Just tell me where you are, V" I look over at Nikki, who has her entire body faced in the complete opposite direction. She's pissed, I could tell in the way her jaw's clenched and her right hand is balled up into a fist. I just want Veronica to tell me where she is and I'll be off the phone to talk to Nikki. "Baby, just tell me where you are"

_"__Sigma Alpha Mu's house" _She finally responds. There's only one problem, I have no idea where that is. Asking drunk Veronica for directions is like asking an infant.

"Alright, I'll be there in a few minutes. I'm going there now" I say and the phone clicks. Nikki pulls the phone away from my face and places it on her lap. She's slumped over to the right side of the passenger seat, still staring out the window. "I need you to come with -"

"Don't even ask me. I'm not going with you to get her" She snaps.

"Please, Nikki" I beg, trying to grab her hand. She yanks away hard, hitting her elbow on the door.

"Ow! No! You go find her" She shouts. "This is why you wanted to leave so fast, because princess needed you to go get her like you're her fucking chauffeur?!"

I pull in front of a red light "Nikki, stop" I reach for her hand again, only for it to be slapped away. She turns her face and rubs her eyes. She's probably just be really tired, that's why she's being a grouch.

"No, _you _stop Dean! You wake me up in the middle of the night, and I like an idiot." she sniffles, "Like a fucking moron each time, I fucking fall for it and I help you" I watch tears begin to fall down the side of her face and my heart just fucking shatters.

"Stop crying" I tell her, it comes out more of a demand than anything else. I can't stand when women cry, it reminds me of my childhood. Really fucked up memories.

"No! I'm not!" she chokes out, "I'm so tired of this! I'm suppose to be your best friend!" I could feel this sting in my eyes, and have to look away from her. I need this light to fucking turn green already. I listen to her for about another twenty seconds just sob into her hands. TURN FUCKING GREEN DAMN IT! I try to push the sounds out, but there's no use. "It's green, go" she mumbles.

Fucking finally. The five-minute ride to her house feels like an eternity, I don't know what to say. I'm not even sure she wants to talk, her body language reads that she just wants to get the fuck away from me as soon as possible. I hear the vibration of her phone going off again. Damn it. She tosses it at me without a word, as she begins to take deep breaths to calm herself down.

"I'm on my way, V" I answer, "I'm pulling into Nicole's dorm now"

_"__Come get me already" _she whines, and the hangs up on me.

I place the phone into Nikki's lap and pull up at her dorm building's door. "Nikki, please. You don't have to come, just tell me where to go, please?" I beg.

She contemplates it for a minute or two before facing me. "Where is she?"

Her tear-stained face, distracts me for a second, I feel like shit. "Sigma Alpha Mu?" Am I even saying this right? I sound like a fool, who lives in these things, with these names?

She gets out of the car without a word and I hit my head on the steering wheel. This is going to be a really long night of looking for this fucking frat house. "Take this road down about 7 lights. Make a left, it's the biggest house on the block with the letters in the front" she finally answers. Sounds like it hurt her more to tell me.

"Thank you" I let out a sigh of relief. I slowly begin to back out and watch her head for the building door. "I love you, Nikki" I call out to her, but get nothing in return.

* * *

_**This chapter wasn't suppose to be this at all, but I just started typing and this is what came of it, so yeah. Enjoy and review.**_


	5. Chapter 5

**Seth's POV**

I intended to sit alone today in the cafeteria during my break, I'm absolutely exhausted and I have a huge test that I have no time to study for. I have practice right after my last class until 6:30 and then I promised Alexa a date night to make up for the lie from over the weekend with Devin and the night before. However, as the cafeteria filled up, I know my study time was going to be cut in half.

I feel two hands grip my shoulders tightly suddenly and look up to find Dean behind me. "Sneaking up on me to kick my ass today?"

He pats me hard on my shoulders before coming around and sitting down across the table. "Listen, I'm sorry, alright? That was fucked up of me"

"All good" I reply, shrugging it off. "you do what the woman says" I add, looking around. I'm kind of surprised I don't see that vile woman hanging off his neck. "Where is she?" I ask. She's not worthy of me calling her by her name and he's come to accept that.

"She's sleeping still, I think. She had a rough night" he answers with a yawn.

"You don't look like you're in any better shape" I respond. "And you have a game tonight?"

He nods, placing his forehead flat on the table with a thud. "Long story short. We fought, we broke up, she called me while I was with Nikki and I had to drive to some frat house to drag her out of because she didn't remember calling me to get her." He mumbles, falling asleep. "But she did manage however to remember I was Nikki, which led to another fight. Which led to shit breaking in my dorm and a very pissed off defensive tackle.." He trails off.

"I'm surprised Reigns hasn't put in a transfer request" I scoff. For a moment I feel bad for Dean as I watch him slip into his slumber in the center of the cafeteria, but then I don't. For the life of me, I can't figure it out. It's like Veronica has his balls in a vicious grip or he's been in too many fists fights and taken too many punches to the face because of her and now he can't even put a thought together.

I shake my head and return my attention to my textbook and notes. I'm half way through my first page of notes when I hear Devin and Nicole approaching. I'm never going to get through this am I?

"And I'm positive she looks through his phone when he's sleeping! That's where she got my number. I mean how else would she get it?" I hear Nicole complain.

"I love that girl, I do. She's been my best friend since kindergarten, but I'm not at all shocked" Devin responds.

Of course, they're talking about Veronica. The only person that suffers more than Dean in this whole relationship is Nicole. You know who bailed him out of jail a couple of months ago? Who talks him out of his panic attacks? Not his shitty girlfriend...nope. Nicole.

She denies it, but I know she's in love with his crazy ass.

I watch as they sit down quietly with their salads, their eyes widening at the sight of Dean sitting there. "Fuck" Nicole mouths towards me, placing her hand over her mouth.

I shake my head, letting her know he's out cold. She gazes at him with a small pout. There's a reason why he never stops unintentionally using Nicole when Veronica leaves. Nicole always forgives him. Like that one time I had to take Nicole home from a party twenty minutes away from campus because Veronica and Dean got into it and he forgot all about Nicole, leaving her stranded. Next morning she was out and about with him as if nothing happened.

They continue to whisper back and forth, and I go back to studying. I hear my name called and look up to find Corey passing with some blonde. I'm assuming Paige's in class , that's why he has this other chick for the time being? I nod in greeting and chuckle when he gives her a slap on the ass. He's another one I'll never understand, he somehow manages to reel in different girls every hour when they know he'll just use and abuse them.

"I think I'm going to throw up in my mouth" Devin mutters. I'm not sure if it's towards Corey or the poor sap he's got pawing at his shirt.

"I heard that, asshole" the blonde snaps, narrowing her eyes at us.

Nicole grabs a handful from her salad bowl, launching it at the back of the girl's head as she continues to walk away. Today's lesson? Don't mess with Nicole or her friends. Devin tries to contain her laughter, burying her face in her hands. But, I laugh openly at her impulse and watch as the blonde complains to Corey but he doesn't showing much interest. He gives the blonde a small smile and shrugs.

"He's actually a really nice guy" I hear Nicole defend. "Like his morals are all fucked up, he breaks girls hearts like every hour of the day but, he's a good person"

"I find that very, very hard to believe" Devin responds wiping the tears from her eyes.

"He is" I chime in.

Devin looks over at me, a bit shocked that I'm involved in her conversation. "You still mad at me?" She asks with a smirk. No, but I won't let her know that easily. I glance up at her for a moment, leaving her with nothing but a shrug.

The table suddenly jolts towards and Dean jumps to his feet. "What time is it?!" He shouts, looking around the cafeteria.

"You've only been asleep for like 10 minutes, dude" I chuckle.

He rubs his face and throws himself down back into the seat. "Fuck" he whispers, doing a double take when he sees Nicole at the table. A grin begins to make its way across his face, he's never this happy when he's with Veronica. I can not be the only person that sees this, can I? She tries to fight it but fails miserable at her attempt not to laugh at the disheveled Dean in front of us. "I said I love you last night, you know?" He tells her.

"Oh?" She asks, lowering her head and hiding her smile.

"Don't be a dick." He tells her, grabbing the fork from her hand and shoving food in his mouth. He looks down at the ground, "why's there perfectly good food on the ground?!"

"Some broad got smart with Devin." Nicole answers simply, watching Dean devour her food. "Sure you can have some of my food" She sarcastically remarks, shaking her head. However, does very little to stop him. Not the smartest move, Dean's a fucking garbage disposal.

"You coming to my game tonight?" He asks, standing up from the table.

She nods, and he walks over kissing the top of her head. "Love ya" she calls to him.

"Love you too"

It baffles me they're not married yet.

I glance down at my watch, 15 minutes until my next class. Fuck it, no point in continuing to study anymore. I toss my books in my bag, and sit back in the chair watching Devin and Nicole interact. Women are so interesting to watch sometimes, the way they talk, their mannerisms, it's all so intriguing.

I scan the cafeteria and find Corey heading back and it looks like we're where he's stopping. He looks down at the girl's greeting them with a wink when he finally reaches the table. This is strange, where'd the blonde go? Maybe he got caught by Paige, and left the blonde to fend for herself. It wouldn't shocked me in the least.

"What's up Corey?" Nicole says smiling up at him. "I'm going out for my birthday on Saturday, wanna join us?"

"I wish I could but I'm working that night" he answers regrettably.

Corey rarely ever goes out, he has zero income coming in from his parents and is constantly working to make ends meet. I wish I could help him, but my situation isn't much better. In fact, I owe Devin money for helping me out here and there. What'd I do to be in her and Bayley's financial position. Rent paid off, car paid off, weekly allowance put into their bank accounts. What a life.

He's waving to get my attention and mouthing something but I have not the slightest clue what he's trying to communicate. "What?!"

* * *

**Devin's POV**

I ignored whatever the hell was going on between Seth and Corey and focused on Nicole. Her and Brianna's birthday is in a few days and she was so excited to spend it out with majority of us that she couldn't stop herself from talking about it. Dean was actually going to make it to hers this year and she was gushing.

I look up suddenly to find Corey staring at me. What the hell are these two doing? I shake my head, making an annoyed face of sorts and rolls my eyes.

"Do you know Devin, Corey?" Nicole asks. My eyes widen, is she in on whatever secret code shit they're doing too? Damn it. I suddenly feel extremely self-conscious. I want to climb into a hole and not come up until the cafeteria is empty.

He smiles at me in what I think is the most charming smile he could pull off. He oozes rebellious sex appeal, with this hair cut, and the never-ending amounts of tattoos that cover his arms and are making their way up his neck, Lord. Stop it! I try my best to brush it off and roll my eyes at his attempt to pull me in. "Yeah, We've met before.." His voice, smooth like silk. I actually don't blame these girls for falling for his lies. Wait.. What am I saying?! My muse sternly shakes her fist at me. We don't fall for sweet talkers like this, Devin, she reminds. This is how we ended up heartbroken with Roman.

"Oh, well, I'm sure Seth will agree, that's she's one of the sweetest girls on campus" Nicole boasts. What is she doing? Trying to sell me to this womanizer, that's what! I don't want him, he's so .. Ugh. Just no okay? No. I want to say something bitchy but once again, my brain does not want to work properly.

"You keep surprising me, Devin. First with Seth, then being Bayley's sister and now with Nicole. You're full of surprises" he said softly spoken, spinning the chair out from next to me and resting his arms in front. "Or isn't your name Daniela?" He smirks.

"No" I snapped. "That's not funny". I turn to look over at Nicole but she's up from her chair, and attempting to yank Seth out of his. No, do not leave me alone with him. Seth is trying his hardest to fight her off, but when Nicole realizes she can't remove him, she drags his chair a few tables over.

"Tell me your name again" he insists, ignoring whatever is going on behind him.

I ignore him, say my name again? What? I move my salad around on my plate. "I'm trying to eat here" I say, before shoving some in my mouth. Is this man for real? I've seen his girlfriend, I know what he's all about! He's flirted with me in front of his girlfriend and I just saw him with a new one. Does he really believe I'm that dense?

He laughs, and it's as if he likes me being this bitch towards him. He watches me chew and waits until I'm playing with my salad again before speaking again. "Well, since we've never formally been introduced I'm Corey. Corey Graves."

I nod, keeping my eyes fixed on my food. "I've heard"

"Have you?" He says with amusement in his voice. "Doesn't surprise me, a lot of women on this campus do"

I let out an exaggerated exhale. Maybe if I show him I'm annoyed he'll leave. But that hasn't worked so far, think Devin. Think. Maybe he gets uncomfortable with direct eye contact? Let's try. "I find it disgusting that you say that proudly" I deliver, in my most spiteful tone, my eyes on his.

He sits back, good I finally wore him off. "You have really gorgeous eyes" he says in almost a whisper, leaning in again. "Gorgeous, green eyes"

I return my eyes down to my plate , letting the brown strands of my hair fall on my face and create a curtain between us. I could feel my cheeks burning up but I refuse to give him the satisfaction. I will not be like the other women on this campus. I don't want him to any effect on me _ever_.

"Alright, get out of here, Graves" I hear Seth command. I have never been more relieved in my life to hear his voice. I hear Nicole giggling in the background but I refuse to look up until Corey's gone. When I feel the seat he was sitting in move, I breathe a sigh of relief. I watch him whisper something into Seth's ear and then he winks at Nicole. Never looking over at me again as he departs. The blonde has reappeared from out of nowhere it seems, and she's hot on his heels following him out.

"What'd he say?" Nicole asks immediately.

Seth shakes his head, "it's nothing" I could tell that he's lying.

"What did he say?" I ask, cautiously.

"He wants me to put in a good word for him is all" He answers, grabbing his bags. Nicole's face lights up and she claps excitedly.

I grab my tray tossing it in the nearest trashcan and return to grab my belongings, "Not even a good word from the Pope would have significance enough for me"

* * *

**_Enjoyyyyy... thanks for the reads.. always review_**

**_Thanks to Chelsie as usual, you're the best. _**


	6. Chapter 6

**Devin POV**

This has been quite possibly one of the weirdest couple of days ever. The whole Corey thing really messed with my head. It's not that I like him, I just found the entire thing inappropriate and strange. Today wasn't much better, Saturday's are usually my sleep in days. However, I promised Bayley I'd drive her to campus so she could tutor for a few hours, and was up at 7:30. I need my parents to give her, her own car already. I'm exhausted, but ecstatic walking into this bar right now. Finally, able to have a night out. I don't even bother to look for the birthday girls or my friends, I need my drink first. I lean on the bar and stare at the bottles._Beer or liquor?_ I look over at Bayley who has already managed to score a beer from the bartender.

"Liquor." She answers, as if she was reading my mind.

I nod, grabbing the attention of the bartender, "tequila seltzer" I call out. Probably not my best decision, but I need this to hit me hard and fast. I look around the bar, noticing some familiar faces. Some are in my classes, others I've seen just around campus. Brooks is the only bar around the school that let's underage students, like ourselves, to be able to party. For that, I am very grateful.

"Yay! You're here!" Nicole greets excitedly, pushing through the crowd with one arm, while tightly grasping her fruity looking drink in the other. "I'm so happy!" She shouts over the music.

I smile, giving her the once over, she looks gorgeous. A simple red dress with a shitload of cleavage, true Nicole style."You look beautiful" I compliment.

"Thank you" she replies, pretending to shy away.

"Who else is here?" Bayley asks, handing Nicole her birthday card from the both of us.

She takes it, narrowing her eyes at us, "we said no gifts!" She yells jokingly, deep down I'm sure she's super happy we gave it though. "Seth and Dean are playing pool, and Alexa's here from our little group." She answers, pointing them out and waving to get their attention. Seth waves at us, and I'm greeted to a middle finger from Dean. I ignore him and turn back to Nicole. "Dean said Veronica's on her way" she continues, the annoyance tinging her voice. "And we're still awaiting the arrival of Brie." She rolls her eyes, "I'm positive she's trying to steal my thunder." She laughs, and I can't tell if she's joking or being serious.

"I'm gonna sit with Alexa. Coming, Devs?" Bayley asks.

Nicole quickly grabs my forearm before I could even take a step. "Go ahead, Bayley, I just wanna let your sister in on something really quick"

I look at Nicole and back at Bayley. It better have nothing to do with Corey. "I have to wait for my drink, anyway. Be there in a sec" I assure her. I watch her walk off and when I turn back my drink is waiting for me. I quickly grab it, replacing it with credit card. "You could leave the tab open" I tell the bartender before turning to Nicole. I clink my glass with hers, and waste no time taking my first gulp. This is so what I needed. I can't wait to just have a fun, and relaxing night.

"Okay, so I just wanted to tell you before they arrived and it was like shoved in your face-" Nicole begins, but she stops suddenly at Dean's shouting. She's looking past me, towards the entrance. What the hell is going on?

"THE BIG MAN HAS ARRIVED!" I hear him say as he charges past us. The big man, there's only one person he ever calls that. "Look at you, I've never seen you look better, brother! And you have the birthday girl on your arm!"

"Thought I'd make a special guest appearance tonight for my special girl, you know?" That voice. Oh, do I know that voice so fucking well. It's him, Roman.

I turn around slowly, almost praying that this was some sick joke. When I hear Nicole whisper, "that's what I wanted to tell you, Brie's dating Roman.." I could hear the pity in her voice. I try to turn back but, it's too late we've already made eye contact, he seems almost as shocked as I am. He's thinned out since the last time I saw him. I've made it my duty to avoid him at all cost, because when I see him, everything comes back. All the emotions, the love, the pain. I think I'm going to throw up, for real this time.

"Come on, let's go, let's get some drinks in!" Dean tells him excitedly, shaking his shoulders. I plaster on a smile and hold my arms out for Brie as he passes us. He's looking at me, I can feel it.

"Hey, Devin" Brie greets hesitantly. "Thanks for coming." Gingerly she places her arm around me giving me a quick embrace. Just awkwardly standing there and nodding with a smile on her face. It's not a malicious smile, just a 'what the fuck do we do now this is awkward' smile.

"Uh- Happy- Happy Birthday, Brie!" I shout unintentionally. I search through my purse for her card and take it out shoving it in her hands. "Just a little something from Bayley and I. You look beautiful. Do you want a drink?" I spew out.

She gazes at me stunned, trying to read me but I just keep the smile plastered on my face. "No, no. Not now"

"You have to! Just one! Come on we have to! Yay birthday!" I shout, again. I can't seem to keep my voice at a reasonable volume.

She looks up at Nicole and then back to me "In a little okay?" She smiles nervously, "I'm just gonna put my things down at the table."

I watch her hurry off and into Roman's arms and I turn to my best friend of the night, the bar. She may not want a drink, but I do, several. All at once, please. "Listen, I know this is like weird as shit for you, and I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I didn't tell you sooner but like he's changed" Nicole explains, as she rubs my back. Sooner? How long has this been going on for? How did I not know is the real question? "He has like a daughter now"

I shake my head in confusion, did I just hear her correctly? "Wait, what?"

She throws her head back, I'm assuming she wasn't suppose to tell me that? "I'm just a huge doofus tonight! This wasn't our intention at all to like shove this in your face or anything like that"

"No, it's fine. Just go back... he has a kid?"

Nicole nods slowly, "with the girl.." What girl? I don't know who she's talking about. I give her a look, hoping she continues. "The girl that he ...cheated on you with"

I'm completely stunned. He has a child?! Roman Reigns, key defensive tackle , 'can't let anything get in my way in college' has a child?! Words aren't even forming in my mind anymore. "That's.. Interesting" is all I can choke out.

"He really, really likes Brie." Her words hurt me more than I expected. I try to keep straight face as she continues. "Not taking anything away from what you two had but he's different now." Clearly, she read right through my expression. "The baby sort of change him, I guess. Brie understands his daddy duties come first, and they're all like one big dysfunctional little cluster family fuck" she finishes with her hands flying everywhere.

I nod, this has all hit me like a ton of bricks. All that's coming to me right now is the day I saw him with that other woman. Ugh, I wanted to rip her face off. Then all at once beg him to stay. I did beg him, actually. He was very adamant about expressing that he felt nothing for me, he had cheated on me from day 1 of us being together. My heart wrenches thinking about it. I take a deep breath, trying to shake his words from my head. "Well, I'm happy for him. Happy for Brie. Happy for everyone! Let's just enjoy the night okay?!"

Nicole nods, giving me a sympathetic smile. "I think we should take some shots. This round is on me, kid" she says ruffling my hair.

I peak over to see our little circle of friends going ape shit over Roman being out, especially Bayley. God, did she love him. It went beyond puppy love, she really just loved him as a person. She was devastated when I told her what had happened between us. Until this day, I don't know who took the break-up harder, her or I.

I take the shot with Nicole and urge her to join the rest of our friends. I promise her that I'd be right behind her, I just needed to stop at the lady's room. I make my way there and surprisingly it's empty. Good. I place my small bag down on the side of the sink and lean my palms at the edge of it. I take a few deep breaths, and look at myself in the mirror. "It makes sense he settled with Brie and not you. Look at you, and then look at Brie, she is a goddess and you are ..." I can't even think of a word to describe myself at this time. My phone vibrates against the porcelain base and I search through it to answer. It's a text message from Veronica, I've never been happier in my life. "Come to the bathroom" I say aloud as I type. I throw my phone back into my bag and wait. I hate staring in the mirror, I find so many flaws, and tonight they're just amplified.

I hear the door swing open and there she is. "I brought you a shot because I saw who's here and .." I grab the small glass out of her hand and gulp it back. "Figured you'd need it" she trails off.

"Thank you" I reply, wiping my mouth. I grab my drink, washing down the burning taste. "What was that?"

"Vodka" she answers with a shrug. There's an awkward silence that looms over for about a minute before she speaks again. "Did you know he was coming?" I shake my head. "That's crazy, that means everyone knew. Everyone, Devin" I nod, her words don't hit me just yet, but I'm sure they will at some point. "He looks really great though, so that's a plus"

I narrow my eyes at her, "a plus for who?" I snap.

"I know, sorry" she apologizes, moving a loose strand away from my face. "Just let's have fun, and forget about it. Forget about Nicole lying to you for however long. Forget about Seth lying to you for however long. Maybe even Bayley. Let it just be our night, okay?"

"Well, I still wanna like hang out with them a little" I sheepishly answer. "I just need a lot of breaks from time to time."

"Fine, fine. Come on, let's get out of the bathroom." She rushes. She doesn't seem to happy with my answer, but it's the truth. It's their birthday,and I'm trying not to let anything get in the way of that. "Do you know whose family owns this bar?" She asks, yelling over the music, as we make our way to the bar.

"Not a clue!" I answer. Not that I really care either.

"Phil" she answers, as if I should know who he is. I stare at her confused, waiting for more information. "Or Punk, whatever the fuck they call him" she adds.

"Oh! The straight edge guy that you told me about? His family owns a bar? That's pretty ironic" I laugh, ordering shots for the group.

She has this innocent smile painted on, "I fucked him" she states and I'm caught completely off guard.

"What? When? No way, you're lying!" I yelling, grabbing her wrist. There is no way she would ever cheat on Dean. "You're lying."

"I'm not, I swear on my bank account" she says, crossing her heart. "I did!"

"I'm so confused. When was this?" I eagerly ask.

"I don't remember exactly when, but over the summer. I broke up with Dean, for ..something. I don't remember but, yeah.." She answers nonchalant.

I grab the tray of shots and slowly begin walking towards the crew. "Does Dean know?"

"Yeah, I've thrown it in his face a few times. Regardless, he doesn't know who he is though, only his name" she shrugs.

"That's cold, Vron" I know Dean is the last person I would ever defend, but that's just a low blow. Wow, huh?You learn something new everyday.

"I'm sure he doesn't even remember. He's taken too many shots to the head" she answers with a small laugh.

I feel bad for Dean. Over the two years we've been here,and they've dated, they've broken up several times. I can't even fathom the amount of partners she's had on the side. I shake the thoughts from my head, no Veronica's a good girl, there's no way she had that many. Right?

"Look she finally does something useful!" Dean shouts at me. I no longer feel bad for him. I hand out the shots, trying my best to avoid Roman. I even hand Dean two, but he gives it to Nicole instead. Moron.

"Thanks, Devin" a deep voice says from behind me. I turn, nodding and hitting my shot glass with his. He smells so fucking good. I inch away, wedging myself in between Seth and Bayley.

"Thank you Devin's daddy" Dean shouts. Veronica slaps him across the stomach, giving him a knowing look. "Cheers to my very best and Brie. Hope it's a good one!" He says putting the glass to his mouth. "However we all know with Roman, Brie's going to have an amazing party" he adds, his eyes fixed intently on mine.

I could burst into tears, or drink the pain away. The second one seems like a better choice. I watch Nicole pull Dean away from Veronica, it looks like a mother scolding her child. Brie pushes past a few people and makes her way over to him as well. He's not making it out alive. "Don't listen to him" Bayley comforts, distracting me from my thoughts. "He's just an asshole"

**Romans POV**

Dean's getting yelled at and for good reason too. I'm here standing in between an ex-girlfriend and a current girlfriend and he's just making it all sorts of awkward. Veronica's evil ways seem to be rubbing off on him, I see.

I peer over to see Bayley with her arms around Devin, comforting her. Bayley's big puppy dog eyes feeling every emotion of her sisters, it was always like that. I miss these two, regardless of what happened, they were always so much fun to be around.

Devin squeezes past me and makes her way to the front. She hasn't had her cup empty from the moment I walked into this place. Seth should go talk to her, I peer over to see him sucking face with his girl. That option's out. Ahead of me, Brie and Nicole are still ripping Dean a new asshole. I would ask Veronica but she would never leave Dean alone with Nicole. "Want to check on your sister?" I call to Bayley.

"She said she just wants to get some air" she answers, nursing her beer. Bayley drinking a beer, I never thought I'd see that. I'm not use to seeing her so relaxed. While I dated Devin, Bayley was finishing high-school. When we'd go visit her family, however rare that was, she was so stressed and uptight every moment of the day. Even during the summer when I did make anytime for Devin, Bayley was still stressed out.

"Alright, just tell Brie I went outside, okay?" She nods, giving me the thumbs up.

This place has gotten ridiculously crowded in the short amount of time I've been here. I feel like I've been walking to the exit for about 10 minutes. I finally make it and who's trying to make her way back in. Devin, of course. She glances up at me, and tries to get past, but I block her way. Turning her around and walking her right back out.

I follow behind her, waiting for her to stop wherever she's comfortable. She finds a stoop and plants herself on the second step. She has her face in the palms of her hands. "You okay?" I ask. She nods in response. "You want me to get you water?" She shakes her head.

I lean on the railing and stare at the top of her head for a few moments, trying to think of something to say. "You know Dean was just being a dick, right?" Probably not the best way to start a conversation, but it's all something we're both thinking at the moment.

"Yeah" she answers muffled, through her hands. She speaks! She finally removes her hands, thank god, no sign of crying. "How long have you been dating Brie?"

I could hear the hurt in her voice. "Like 4 months, or something" I respond.

She nods, looking out to the busy street. "Are you happy?"

"Yeah" I state, and watch as she fidgets with her hair. She always fucks around with her hair when she's upset.

"I'm glad you're happy" she says, and though she might not feel it at the moment, I could tell she genuinely means it. Devin is one of the truest and sweetest people I have ever come across. That's one thing I'll always regret, taking someone so innocent and caring and hurting them to the point of not being able to make eye contact with me.

"What about you? What's going on with you?" I ask, getting the topic off of myself. "Seeing anyone?" She shakes her head, turning her attention to her fingers. "Why not?"

"Did everyone know you two were dating?" She inquires.

I'm not sure how to answer that question. Do I lie about who knew, or just tell the truth? I figure I've lied to this girl so many times already, I should just be honest. "No, just Seth and Dean. Nicole, of course, but that's pretty much a given"

She nods, and the awkward silence overcomes us. I don't know what to say to her, she looks so uncomfortable out here with me. Maybe I should leave her alone and let her chill out as she intended. "You still hate me?" I blurt out.

Her head shoots up, surprised but still doesn't look at me. "Not as much as I thought I would" she answers quietly.

"I'm sorry for everything that happened between us. I'm sorry for stringing you along and just being a complete dick. I was stupid, I thought I was in love. Nothing even worked out.. And I know you don't care what happened between her and I, but just know that I felt terrible. I know I never showed it but I did feel horrible." I let out all in one breath. I've held that in for quite sometime, it feels good to let it out.

She seems shocked by my words. She let's out a bit of a smile and it makes me feel a little better. Though, I think the smile is more of relief than real happiness. "I heard you have a kid now?"

"Yeah" I gush, "she's the love of my life, Devin." I continue, pulling out my phone to show her pictures. "That's her" I hand her the phone, and show her which way to scroll.

"She looks like you" she tells me, examining the pictures carefully.

"Babe..?" I hear Brie call from behind me. She's making her way over to us slowly, she's probably assuming we're in the middle of a serious conversation or something. "I just wanted to make sure you're okay" she states, as I pull her closer. She wraps her arm around my waist leaning her head on my side.

"Yeah, we're good. Just showing her pictures of the baby." I answer, kissing the top of her head. This woman makes me feel invincible.

"Here" Devin says as she stands up from the stoop. She wobbled a bit but then regains her balance. I'm not sure if it's her shoes or the drinks. "I'm gonna head in" she continues, "but really, I'm happy for you both."

She quickly walks in and I look down at Brie, kissing her softly. "See, and you were worried."

"It's still an early night, Roman" she laughs, slapping my ass. "Let's get inside"

* * *

_**So this isn't how this chapter was supposed to end but it got really long so I had to divided into two. **_

_**thanks for reading, please review.. (it makes me happy when you do) **_

_**Chap 6. part 2 shall be up either later tonight or tomorrow**_


	7. Chapter 7

**Nikki's POV**

I catch Devin entering the bar and practically tackle her. "I thought you left!" I shout at her, getting a good grip on her forearm and bringing her to the bar.

"I would never leave! It's your birthday!" She states with a smile. Devin is what every person in life searches for in a friend. She's completely loyal and tells you the truth regardless if you care to hear it or not. She's won me over tonight even more so than before, she deals with Roman and Brie being tossed on her lap and Dean throwing rude comments at her and still stands here in front of me with a huge smile on her face. She could've easily caused a scene and left, but she didn't. For that, I will forever be grateful.

"I'm sorry about the comment Dean made earlier. He's an idiot, and I told him to apologize to you." She scoffs at my comment. "No, seriously, I did! He will say sorry to you" I insist.

She shrugs and let's out a small laugh, "yeah, when hell freezes over."

I go to answer, but there's a familiar face at the end of the bar nursing a water that's got my attention. Where have I seen him before? His arms are covered in colorful tattoos, and there's a lip ring that is taking attention away from other features on his face at the moment. I find that incredibly sexy.

"What do you want to drink?" Devin asks, knocking me out of my stare.

"Surprise me" I respond, and continue gawking. He catches me staring and smiles at me. He gives a little wave and then gets up from his chair, he recognizes me too. Holy crap, he's coming over! I place my elbow on the bar and lean in towards Devin, nonchalantly "Ok, this adorable man is coming over to me right now and I can't remember where I know him from so just talk to me" I mumble out in a rush.

"Nicole" he greets and sticks his hand out. He knows my name, holy crap it's the guy from the diner!

I place my hand in his, giving him my best smile. His hands are soft, I like that. "Hi.. Phil, right?" I ask hesitantly. It's better to be safe than sorry.

He chuckles, "Yeah, good memory."

Devin turns around handing me my drink, and smiles at Phil. "Do you want a drink?" She offers.

"No, no. I don't drink. Plus I'm on the clock for work" he explains.

I nod, "you work here?"

"No. My family owns the place" he answers, and Devin begins to choke on her drink. We both turn our attention to her, patting her on the back and making sure she's alright. "Lou, give me a water!" He calls to one of the bartenders, immediately he scrambles.

"I'm okay, I'm fine" she says between breaths, holding her chest. "I think it just went down the wrong pipe."

He grabs the water and hands it to her anyway. "Just drink some, it'll make you feel better" he tells her.

She complies, grabbing her drink when she's done. "Thank you for the water" she says rushed, "I'm just going to head back over to Bayley." That's weird, she's such a people person.

He waits until she's far enough away to turn his attention back to me. "She going to be alright?" I nod, and watch this shy like smile begin to creep across his face.

"What?"

He places his hand over his mouth to cover his growing smile. "I mean, the night at the diner I couldn't ask you because that just would've been creepy. However, I mean we've seen each other twice in random places, so I guess it's okay if I ask …for your number?" He asks shyly, scratching the back of his head. "I mean unless that guy that night was your boyfriend than I'm really sorry"

I could feel my cheeks burning, thank god this place is so dimly lit. "No! No, he's not my boyfriend" I couldn't have gotten that sentence out fast enough. "He's my best friend"

"Sometimes those are worse than boyfriends, to be honest" he laughs, handing me his phone. His laugh is precious. I could feel my hands shaking as I punched my number into his phone. He makes me nervous, I like that. I don't remember the last time I had this feeling. I hand the phone back, and watch him take a quick glance at the screen. "Just making sure you put all seven digits" he jokes.

"I swear, I did" I smile, holding up my right hand. "But um, yeah.. I hope to hear from you soon" I hint.

"Thanks, and have a good night, partying?" He shrugs.

"It's my birthday!" I shout at him. I don't want him to think I'm some bar rat that's here every weekend. That's a horrible impression he could be getting from me.

"Ahh, Happy Birthday then" he smiles, he waves one of the bartenders down. "It's her birthday" he begins telling him. "Give her and her friends a few rounds on the house alright!" Well, that's sweet of him.

He places one arm around my back, gently and warily pulling me into a hug. "Hope you have fun tonight" he whispers into my ear. My knees instantly become jello, and I grab the bar to hold my weight, in case. I'm sweating, did it just get really hot in here? He winks and then takes off out a side exit that I'm assuming only employees and he can use. I stand there fanning myself with a napkin, trying to gather myself.

"Who was that weirdo that was all over you?" His scruffy voice asks. Of course, Dean would notice that from where he was.

"Don't watch me, watch your woman" I respond jokingly, lightly tapping his nose with my pointer finger.

He puts both hands on either side of me trapping me against the bar. He has on this flirty looking smirk, that could only mean one thing, Dean is drunk. "Stop, come on!" I laugh, playfully attempting to remove his hands. To be frank, I love drunk Dean, I get most of his attention then.

"Who was that weirdo?" He repeats, leaving his hands where they are.

I roll my eyes, "it was that guy I met at the diner that night" I answer, and watch him remove his hands from either side of me with a huff.

"I don't like him" he states. As if that really would be the game changer. After dealing with Veronica for two years, I'm more than able to start talking to someone Dean 'doesn't like'.

"You don't even know him" I laugh. I run my nails through his hair, pushing it out of his face a bit. He has such gorgeous eyes, I wish he'd show them off more, but no, he leaves his straggly hair, that he barely brushes, to cover them. "And besides, all he did was take down my number"

"Still" he whines, moving in closer. What is he doing, more importantly where is Veronica?! He is centimeters away from my face, and I could feel my heart beating so fast it's going to pop out of my chest. If he tries to kiss me, I'm not pulling away. I've been waiting for this moment since I met Dean. I close my eyes anticipating the feel of his lips on mine. I could feel his breath, he's so close and then suddenly nothing. I feel him pull away and I flutter my eyes open to see him throwing his head back and taking a shot. Asshole.

"Dean!" Veronica's shrill voice cuts through all the noise in this place. She does not look happy. "Come here!" She demands, of course like the whipped little shit that he is, he complies. They have a little back and forth and then he roughly grabs the back of her head, pusher her into him, kissing her with such a passion. I can't take my eyes off of it, somewhere deep down inside, I want that to be him with me. I'll never publicly admit it, but I envy Veronica in times likes these.

I sigh frustrated. Frustrated at my self and him. God, just leave her already! Or like, get me laid, something! I grab the shots on the tray and take them over to my friends.

I ignore Dean the rest of my night. I need to focus on just having fun, it is my birthday for crying out loud! I was so distracted by the girls that I didn't even realize how late it had gotten. We were too busy dancing on tables and chairs, and dramatically singing the songs to realize the time. The next thing you know the lights are flickering on and off. The bellows of 'last call' were heard throughout the bar and Dean, Seth and Roman lead us outside. All three keeping a close eye on us.

"Oh my god! I left my credit card!" Devin screams running to back in. Have I mentioned how Bayley is the brain and Devin's the pretty face?

"We're gonna leave" Bayley and Alexa say unison with these huge matching smiles.

"You can't leave without Seth.. Or your sister" I tell them both.

"Brie and Roman are giving us a ride. Devin said she wants to hang out with you, and Seth said he'll stay as well" Alexa responds. I'm sure inside she's dying inside but she hides it well.

"What about Veronica and Dean?" They both shrug and I stand up to look for them. Him more than her, of course. I spot them, a few cars down he has her pinned to the passenger door, ravaging her. Gross. "Get a fucking room!" I shout, quickly turning back to the other two. "Your sister knows your leaving?" I ask Bayley, she nods and waves hopping into Roman's car.

I walk over to him as he starts the ignition. Tapping on his window so he lowers it. "You're okay to drive right?"

"Absolutely. I had a shot hours ago, and plenty of water in between." He answers.

Alright. I'm trusting you here." I warn sternly, "don't let me down."

"Never" he smiles, and I back away so he can pull out of the spot and walk over to Seth who's impatiently waiting for Devin at the door like a puppy.

She finally comes out and I could immediately see the relief on his face. "Took you long enough" he smiles and she drunkenly wobbles over to him wrapping her arms around his waist.

"I love you!" She shouts at him, placing kisses all over his face. Seth isn't stupid, I know why he stood around. Obliterated Devin, is extremely flirtatious and touchy.

"Let's go see what she and Dean are doing tonight" I suggest, pulling Devin away from him. Linking my arm with hers and leading her down the block.

"Tattoo shop!" Seth calls out behind us and Devin plants her feet, pulling me back a bit.

"I've always wanted one!" She shouts. "Let's do it!"

"Let's go" Seth encourages. I narrow my eyes at him. He knows better than to encourage drunks. "Dean, dude! Tattoos!" He shouts, pointing up to the huge awning.

"Dean, don't you dare!" Veronica calls to him. "Don't you even dare" he looks at us and then back at her. Slowly making his way back to her. He's such an idiot, letting her tell him when and how.

"Then it's just us 3!" Devin yells excitedly.

"Devin, don't do it!" Veronica advises. "Think of what your father would say!" Devin looks at her for a moment, probably debating it and then continues to the door. "Only trash bags get tattoos, Devin!"

"Hello! I have 'em" Seth chimes in, offended by her harsh words.

"Exactly my point" Veronica sneers. It takes everything I have to hold myself back from punching her face in.

"I didn't say I was for sure!" Devin tells them, as she stares at the art work through the window. "Plus, I just want to spend time with my best friend!"

"I'm right here" she says, "not getting a tattoo!" She walks over to Devin, grabbing her by her shoulders and turning her in the direction of her car.

"No my other one." Devin answers, squirming her way out of Veronica's hold and standing my Seth's side. Seth puts his arm around her defensively, giving Veronica a huge 'fuck you' smile.

I can't help but laugh either. The look on Veronica's face is hysterical. She's been negated and I don't think she knows how to handle it. "Listen, Devin. I'll be with you and Seth the entire time. So do what you feel! You want to get a tattoo, do it! You want to back out while you're on the table, I'm fine with that too. But do it only because _you_ want to, not because someone said otherwise." I know, I should really be a life coach or something. "And for the record" I add, "not everyone who gets tattoos is a trash bag." My eyes are fixed on Veronica, I want her to know I'm talking directly to her.

"You're so right" she says with an eye roll, walking to her car. "Trash bags get implants." She laughs at her own comment.

Instinctively, I yank my heels off of my feet tossing them at Devin and run towards Veronica. This bitch is dead. I'm inches away from grabbing her when I come into contact with another body. I'm being held tightly by my midsection and moving backwards. "Get off of me! You are fucking dead!" I yell uncontrollably. I'm placed down on my feet and Dean blocks my view of her.

"Nikki, stop" he coos softy. Holding my by my shoulders. "Calm down"

"Don't tell me to calm down! You're not always going to be around, and when you're not, she's dead!" I yell in his face. I'm usually very calm and level-headed, but there's just something about her that gets under my skins in ways I can't even describe.

Dean pushes his hips into mine, getting a better hold on me. "When you stop, I'll let you go" he tells me softly. I could hear Veronica calling for Dean in the background. How she must be hating the fact that he's with me right now.

"I'm going to kick her ass!" I threaten once more for good measure.

He applies a little more strength to his hold, and huskily chuckles into my ear. "You won't. You know why?" He begins to coo. "Huh? You know why, Nikki? Because you love me so much." He pulls away a bit, smiling his sick smile.

I roll my eyes, trying to pull out of his hold. He gave me chills, I can't let him notice. "Love or not , I'll kill her next time she comes at me like that"

He loosens his grips and continues his chuckle. "You wouldn't. You love me so much and I love you. I love you a lot." He stares directly into my eyes while he's telling me this.

"DEAN! NOW!" Veronica shouts, angrier than the first few times. "Get the fuck in this car"

"Your master's calling,you better get a move on." I smirk.

Dean chuckles, knocking me on the chin playfully. He turns around as tells Veronica to give him a second, but she continues calling him. He's moving in again, closer than before. "My master?" His lips are so close to mine I could almost taste them.

"Dean! I am leaving! Right now!" She screams.

He turns around, letting me go and heading for the car. Suddenly, he stops and backtracks. "And for the record, I am a huge, _HUGE_ , ginormous ..fan of your girls" he smiles, eying my chest. "Great decision" he calls as he runs into the car.

**Corey's POV**

I could hear a commotion in front of the shop and think about going to check on it but decide against it. The last time I decided to be a good samaritan, I ended up with a concussion, no thanks. There's never a dull moment working this late on a Saturday night, there's always a fight or couples drunkenly arguing, keeps us quite entertained here. I take a sip of my beer and sit back in my chair, "It's quiet as shit tonight" I look over at Punk. "Not good for business, buddy" He's staring at his phone, like he has been for the past hour or so, I grab a piece of my sketch paper, crumbling it and throwing it at his head.

"You say something?" He asks, looking over at me.

"Yeah, I said a lot of shit, you asshole" I snap. "What the fuck are you even doing? Staring at nudes I hope" I get up from my chair, walking over to his station.

He shakes his head, putting his phone in his draw and closing it. "It's nothing, just trying to figure out how to ask this girl if she wants to go out for like dinner or something" I'm shocked, Punk hasn't been interested in anyone since coming back. "Wanna start on that piece?" He asks, pulling the drawings out from his sketch book.

"Might as well, doesn't look like we're getting much done" I answer. I grab the papers taking it over to the thermal-fax to make the stencil and he heads to the back. I look over them before putting them through the machine, he's been working his heart out on this sketch.

_Through these fields of destruction _

_Baptisms of fire _

_I've witnessed your suffering _

_As the battles raged higher_

That's some deep shit. The next page is the actual drawing, the rifle in between a pair of combat boots, with his helmet on the barrel of the gun. And a pair of dog tags hanging from there, in small print his full name. Cpl. Philip Brooks. "This is some pretty sick detailed shit you got here" I call out to him.

The door bell chimes, and I hear a few footsteps coming through the door "It smells weird in here" I hear a female's voice say. Fucking great, not a customer all night and then out of nowhere a pain in the ass. Typical.

"Punk, there are people" I call, annoyed that I can't get started on his piece. We've put it off for so long. He inaudibly mumbles something and I walk to the front to greet them.

I'm caught off guard seeing Nicole and Seth here. "Pleasant fucking surprise" I call, bumping fist with Seth. He gives a shrug and comes behind the counter, making Nicole visible. She looks fucking stunning, that dress fits her curves perfectly.

"Hey, eyes up here, Graves" she laughs, with her hand on her hips and shaking her finger at me with the other.

"I'm sorry, they're a distraction!" I joke, pulling her in for a big hug. I love this girl, sweetest fucking person you'll ever meet, and she's pretty level-headed too. Can't ask for more than that. "What are you doing around here this late?"

"It's my birthday!" she says excited. Girl's make such big deals about their birthdays I never understood that. I'm cool with some beer and sex. They need to get dressed up and go out, get drunk and then cry after, a whole hullabaloo of nonsense. No one ever has fun.

"Ah, that's right. Happy birthday" I kiss the top of her head. "What do you want a tattoo, piercing?" I ask "it'll be your birthday gift" I chuckle.

"No, not me. Devin wants one" She responds, pointing over behind her with a sly smile.

I'm confused at first, and then I realize, _Devin_. I curiously go towards the front of the shop where it sounds like she's turning the huge pages of all the tattoos. Some we've done, some generic. She's practically covered by them with her petite frame, just staring at them, tracing one slowly with her finger. "Can I help you?" I try to say as suave as possible.

She jumps, peeking out from behind the huge plastic binded papers. She stares at me intently, I think she's trying to filter out where she recognizes me from. "You've got to be kidding me! How are you everywhere I go?" she laughs.

"I follow you, I guess" I joke. She stops laughing almost immediately, and I could see her swaying a bit. "Why don't you come sit over here next to Nicole" I recommend. Last thing I need is her knocking down our entire wall of photos.

"It smells weird in here right?" She asks me, as she passes. Ah, that was her. I shake my head and walk behind her watching her plant herself in the empty chair. "I want a heart" she says innocently. I want to fuck the innocence completely out of her, right this second.

Nicole giggles, wrapping her arm around her. "I love this girl so much!" She wiggles her eyebrows at me and I can't help but laugh. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Nicole asks her, making Devin look directly into her eyes. Devin nods. "You're certain you want a heart?" Devin nods again.

"I don't know if I can, you're pretty drunk right now" I tell her.

"Is there another person that I can speak to, to get a second opinion?" She responds straight-faced. I laugh and shake my head, "just me and P, and he's tougher than I am"

She throws her head back, "Seth" she whines. "Tell your roommate to let me get my heart"

The back door opens and Punk comes out with color bottles in his hands, stopping short when he lays eyes on Nicole. "Hey" he smiles. The Marine is fucking blushing at the sight of Nicole.

"You two know each other?" I ask, obviously already knowing the answer.

"Kinda" Nicole answers, trying to hold back her smile.

"Nicole came here for a tattoo, Punk. Hook her up" I tease.

"I didn't!" She exclaims, she widens her eyes at me, as if telling me to stop. "Devin wants one and Corey's giving her a hard time."

"He always does that to the pretty girls" he tells Devin, as he passes us and moves to his side of the parlor. "Let the girl get her tattoo, Graves. Try for her number later."

What a jerk off. I nod, in the direction of my chair and watch eyes light up as she jumps up.

"Give her the paperwork" Punk reminds me.

"I know about the paperwork" I snap, earning a chuckle from him. What does he think, this is my first rodeo? I hand her the few papers on a clipboard with a pen. "Fill those out" I tell her and begin to get ready.

"Can Seth fill out my paperwork?" She asks.

"No" Punk and I shout in unison.

She jumps, startled. "Ok" she says in almost a whisper.

She fills out the papers and hands them over to me before looking through pictures of her finding the perfect heart that she wanted. We picked out the color and perfect size, a hair smaller than the half-dollar coin, I put it through the machine, got the stencil. We just needed to decide where to place it.

"So you're hiding this from your father right?" Seth inquires. She nods.

"But I don't want it on my ass, or like side boob. I want it like really hidden" she informs him and he looks over at me. I'm positive we're thinking the same thing. "A little lower than my pelvic bone..?" she says in more of a question than a statement.

"I think that's fine" I urge.

"That's going to look really hot" Nicole chimes in. She's somehow managed to make it over to Punk's area nonchalantly, and is sitting in his tattoo chair.

"Okay, yeah" She nods, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Her hands are visibly shaking, I look at up and she smiles. "You okay?" I ask. She looks like she's going to pass out on me. "You don't have to do this"

"I know. No, I want it" She declares adamantly. She sounds like she's convincing herself more than me.

"You could do other things to stick it to your dad, you know?" I smirk, signaling for her to drop her pants. She stares at me with her eyebrow raised. "You have to lower them so I can get in there" I laugh.

She rolls her eyes and drops her hands at her sides. "Can your friend do this for me?"

"I'm joking, I'm joking" Tough crowd tonight. She unbuttons her jeans hesitantly, causing my head to fill with more fantasies than I'd probably like to admit. She lowers them a bit, and lays back down.

"Y-yeah" She stammers, already gripping at the pillow. I dig my hands into the sides of her jeans and bring them down just a bit more, just in case.

"There are other things you can do to spite your dad, you know?" I smile, as I go to sit back down.

"Oh, yeah. What's that?" she asks with a squeal, as I place the cold alcohol pad over

the area.

"You could be dating me" I scoff. I turn to my table, placing the black ink in its ink cap and unwrapping the needle. I place the tubes into the machine, and fit on my rubber gloves. I grab the small pillow and place it in her arms. "When it hurts just squeeze it, okay?" She doesn't respond, I get up and look over. "Okay, Devin?" She nods. "Say okay"

"Okay" she breaths.

I turn on the machine, and she immediately tenses up. "Relax, Devin" I try to assure.

"Why do you say my name, all the time?" She asks, waiting for me to press into her skin. When I don't answer she peers from behind the small pillow, her green orbs fixed on me.

"I like saying your name. It's different" I respond, placing one arm down on her to keep that section in place. "Take deep breaths" I remind her, and let my hand begin to do its work.

"You have a lot of tattoos" she grimaces into the pillow.

I chuckle, "yeah, I do"

"Do they mean something or did you just get them?" she mumbles into the pillow.

"Some do, some don't" I answer. "Maybe one day, you'll give me a chance to tell you about them" She doesn't respond, and for a second I fear that she's passed out on me. "Devin" I call.

"Yeah?"

"Making sure you're still with me" I respond, I wipe off the excess ink and look over to find Punk talking to Nikki. Seth's leaving over the counter looking through a binder of the tattoos I've done over the past year or two and texting.

"Where's that scar from?" She asks, bringing my attention back to her.

"Which one?"

She points over her left eyebrow. "Just a fight"

"A real one or the other fake stuff you do?" I'm offended by the way that question was presented.

"There's nothing fake about what I do in the ring" I answer carefully, biting my tongue.

"It's all like planned out though, you know what's going to happen and whose going to win- so technically it is" she rebuttals.

I take a deep breath, and continue with the tattoo. "Let's just not talk about it." I finally answer after a few moments. "And for the record, it was a fight with some drunken asshole"

"Oh" she sounds almost embarrassed. Good.

The door chimes again but I don't look up. I'm a 30 seconds away from finishing this princess' rebellion tattoo. "Punk, you got that right?" I call out.

"Hey…Paige" I hear Seth greet. Fuck.

I clean off Devin quickly, applying the protective ointment and bandaging her up, and hand her a piece of paper with after care instructions " Take the bandage off in like a few hours, alright? Clean with soap and water and then put this, back on" I show her the ointment bottle and toss it in her bag. I don't give that to anyone usually, but she's one of my cutest customers. "Don't soak in the tub, and most important do not itch or peel the scabbing, okay?"

She nods, taking in all the information. I help her up from the chair slowly, and pull her pants up on the opposite side, carefully folding in the side where the tattoo is. "Just tell me how much I owe you"

I shake my head, "from me to your dad" I smirk and she pushes my shoulder playfully.

"Havin' a lot of fun here, I see" Paige's tone is cold. Punk must have let her through.

Devin's completely flustered. She grabs her things and rummages through her bag handing me money and taking off without looking at either of us. I look down to find a $100 dollar bill in my hand. I hear faded goodbye's but I ignore them.

"You mus' be her favorite to get such a handsome pay" Paige continues.

"I've told you to never come to my job" I snap

"Well, good thing I did!" She shouts.

I don't want to deal with this right now, I turn away from her cleaning up my station. "Just go home" I tell her irritated. I'm really starting to believe the great sex isn't worth keeping her crazy ass around.

"Come with me, I don't trust tha' you won't see her" She states.

See who? What the fuck is she talking about? "I can't fucking leave now, Paige"

Punk quietly comes to the back, holding his hands up mouthing 'my fault'. Oh, you bet it's your fault, shit head.

"Leave with me" Paige repeats.

Just as I'm about to blow my gasket, Punk steps in. "Leave, go ahead. I'll clean up and close up. I owe you one for earlier." I'm not sure what he means, but I'm almost positive he just doesn't want to see Paige's wrath.

I exhale loudly, "Let's go then" I finally break, little does she know she's going home.

* * *

**And this chapter still came out long as shit. lmao **

**whatever, have fun..**

**reviews are wonderful**


	8. Chapter 8

_"__I am heaven-sent, don't you __dare__ forget. _

_I am all you've ever wanted, what all the other girls all promised. _

_I think in decimals and dollars. I am the cause to all your problems." - Brand New_

* * *

**Dean's POV**

I look over at my clock, 11:30. Fucking shit! I was to up by at least 10 to get ready and head to Seth's house for Football Sunday. It's my weekend to bring the beer and by now we're already on our second case of the day. I reach over to my dresser to grab my phone, but it's not there. I sit up and look around the bed, was I drunk texting? Veronica's side of my bed is empty, which probably means she has it. I'll deal with her after.

I quickly shower and get dressed throwing on my normal Sunday clothes. My black sweats and Cincinnati Bengals jersey. I wear this shit religiously, and they still haven't gone far enough for me to be happy. I rub the towel over my dipping hair real fast, combing through it with my fingers. I check myself in the mirror before heading out to the living-room, you've never looked better you son of gun. I grab my jeans from the night before, patting around for my wallet and keys. Nothing. I check the nightstand, its empty.

"V, do you have my wallet?" I call out, in what could be my sweetest voice ever.

"Yup" she answers, making sure the 'p' is clearly enunciated.

I look over at the clock again and shut my eyes tightly. This isn't going to end well, at all. I come out to find her sitting at the kitchen table with my wallet, keys and phone all lined up next to one another. She has her elbows on either side of the line up and her chin resting on her hands. She nods to the chair in front, motioning me to sit down.

"Babe, I had to be at Seth's like an hour ago. Please, please, let's talk later" I beg, reaching over to grab my things from the table.

"No!" she exclaims, "we need to fucking talk"

Alright, sit and listen, nod and then you're off to hang with the boys. Quick and painless, Dean. "What's wrong now?"

"Let me just remind you of why you are still in this school, Dean.. Me" She smiles at me. "Remember that"

"okay?" I question bewildered.

I lean in to grab my phone but she grabs it, squeezing it as hard as she could. She thinks she applying some sort of pain, but I feel nothing. "Dean! I'm not threatening you, it's a fucking promise that if you ever, _ever_ fucking embarrass me like you did last night. You'll be gone, in jail, even." Her eyes are boring into mine and I'm a little uncomfortable to be honest.

"How did I embarrass you?" I take what she says with a grain of salt, I've heard this all before. In fact, 7 out of 10 times she'll threaten me with this during arguments. Will she ever do it? Probably not. However, there is a side of me that believes she will, so I tread lightly.

"With fucking Nicole last night. You were all over her, Dean!" What is she talking about all over her? I don't even remember that. I remember saving her from Nikki kicking her ass, where's my thank you for that? Of course, my good deeds go unnoticed.

I take a deep breath, "Alright, I'm sorry. It won't happen again" My words make me queasy, but I can't fuck around with someone as vengeful as Veronica. I've been on the other side of the fence once before, the shit is not pretty.

She's right, I do owe her. I'm not suppose to be attending this school. Her old man paid off some school officials to let me stay after I beat the living shit out of a kid on another team during one of the lacrosse games last season. It wasn't entirely my fault though, he kept telling me the entire game how he had slept with Veronica the last time we broke up. I knew it wasn't true and just snapped, no one talks about my girl like that. The old man took a disliking to me after that, but as long as I'm with his little princess, I'm golden.

She leans over the table grabbing my face, "Dean, every single fucking thing will come back to haunt you, if I ever see that you're like that with her again" She grits through her teeth. "Your record will come back to haunt you. You will lose your scholarship. You'll end up right back in that shit hole Cincinnati, selling your drugs and fighting for your life on the street."

I pull my face away from her hands. I've heard enough. "Alright, V" I say getting up from the table, and grabbing my things. She knows I hate when she brings up my past, I swing the door open, walking out and hear her right on my heels. Another thing she has over me, her dad's running for supreme court judge here, and has his way with school officials, cops, lawyers, etc. When I started dating Veronica, he completely wiped my record clean. Essentially, I can never get in trouble while I'm with her. Which brings up the last time they saved my ass, I had beaten the piss out of some kid at a party for him claiming the same as the jerk off at the lacrosse game. Jealousy is a sick thing, you know.

"But, give me a kiss" she whines in the most innocent voice ever. I turn around to find her pouting, leaning on the door frame. How the fuck does she do this? She goes from ' I'm going to rip your heart out' to 'I want a kiss'.

I come back over trying to give her a quick kiss, but she grabs a fistful of my jersey pulling me in. She has one hand pulling me closer and the other pulling my hair a bit. Any other time I'd surely take her up on this offer, but it's almost 12 and game time's at 1. I pull away, and give her a small wave. "I'll see you later, V"

"Ok, text me" She reminds, sliding back into the dorm as I head down the steps.

I look at my phone, 12:15, I still have time to run around and pick up some stuff. I check through my messages and notice they're erased. She's such a fuck.

* * *

**Seth's POV**

"Good thing I have shit here in the house, that we didn't need to wait for Ambrose, huh?" I call out to Corey and Roman who impatiently wait in the living room. It's 12:30, and we are surprisingly sober for this time on a Sunday. Ambrose is uncharacteristically late, but I chalk it up to it being Veronica's fault.

"Just shut the fuck up and bring the beer, Seth!" Corey shouts back at me. He's a little annoyed, he couldn't get Paige to go home last night so they ended up back here. I walked in, on the quite possibly, one of their biggest fights to date. Nothing changed though, it never does, he yells and tells her he's done with her, she cries, and then they go at it for about three hours.

I actually woke up to a slew of texts from Alexis, too. It must be that time of the month for them. I heard that when they all hang out, their schedules just kinda of all blob together. Leaving every man to fend for himself, during that crying, hate you but love you, I'm going to rip your dick off and feed it to the dogs week. I shutter thinking about it.

"Anyone heard from Dean?" Roman asks, as I hand him the beer and find my spot on the couch.

"Nah, I'm sure either she hid his phone, or fucking took on spitefully so he'd be late" I answer

"Who?" Corey asks

"She is a fucking crazy bitch" Roman cuts him off, looking at me wide-eyed. "Every night they come into that dorm she's screaming about something different."

"Who's his girlfriend?" he asks again.

"No, dude, Roman" I stop him. "She is crazy, certified insane. I don't know how he stays with her, it must be gold down there or something because, she is just.. nuts. That's all you can say"

"Who the fuck is his girlfriend?!" Corey shouts frustrated.

"Huh? Oh, Veronica Lane. Tall, brunette, my Devin's always with her" I explain, earning a look from Roman. "What?"

"You did it again" He says, taking a large gulp of his beer. "_my _Devin" he repeats shaking his head.

"Did I say that?" I look over at Corey who nods to confirm. I shake it off, "The one Devin Taylor always with"

"Oh, yeah, I've.. heard of her" Corey says, keeping his eyes on the television.

I look over at Roman who's giving me the same look I'm giving him. He's heard of her before, hmm? "What's that mean, you've heard?"

"Just from being around, or in the shop when people come through. I doubt all of what I get is true though, half of it's like frat assholes, or just random idiots talking shit. Rarely anything they say really does happen" He explains.

This isn't the first time I've heard this. There are plenty of guys on my team who have said Veronica's hit on them and what not. I didn't think she would be that ballsy, but I guess she is. Dean would never believe what we told him anyway.

"Devin's not like that .. is she?" he asks. Simultaneously Roman and I look at him and chuckle. I shake my head. "What the fuck is so funny about that?"

"Nothing" I say shaking my head, "Devin's not like that, she's a good girl"

The door swings open, I get my hopes up thinking it's Dean with the beer, but it turns out to be Corey's buddy, Punk. He comes in with boxes of pizza and sodas, placing them down on our wobbly kitchen table. "What's up?" He breathes, shaking everyone's hand. "I thought you'd all be inebriated by now"

"The asshole who's bringing the beer is late" Corey answers him in a huff. "Anyway, why'd you laugh?"

"Nothing, dude. She's a good girl" I answer, getting up and opening the pizza boxes.

"Who are we talking about?" Punk chimes in.

"Devin Taylor" I respond, yanking out two slices and sitting back down.

"No idea who she is" He shrugs, "I don't pay attention to girls here" he laughs at himself. Punk dropped out of high-school and scored his GED at 17. He begged his mother until she finally gave in and enrolled him in the Marines. He's done sometime overseas and stuff but after his last 3 year tour, he decided to come back to finish off his last year of college. He's a cool kid, pretty bad ass if you ask me.

"Devin Taylor was the one in the shop last night, I tattooed her" Corey answers him, finishing off his beer.

"Ahh" Punk nods, he cracks open his soda and takes a sip, "She's cute. Don't tell me that's gonna be your next victim?" he asks disapprovingly.

Corey shrugs, "Maybe she'll change me" he laughs. He knows it'll never happen. I stare at him, and for the first time since I've known him, I want to punch this man in his face. The thought of him using Devin infuriates me. "I'm joking, Seth" he tells me, covering his tracks.

"Open!" Dean shout as he kicks the door. I run over, swinging the door open, to find Dean's face covered by the three cases of beer. "Get the fuck out of my way" he growls coming through and making his way to the kitchen. "Food's in the car for whoever wants to go get it" he calls, ripping open the boxes and tossing the bottles into the fridge.

"I'll get it" I tell him, heading down to the car.

* * *

**Punk's POV**

_This_ is the late asshole with the beer.

He finishes putting his beers away, Seth comes up with more food, and finally football sunday can begin.

"Speaking of Devin" Corey pipes up, "she gave me a fucking hundred dollars last night"

"What the fuck are you complaining for?!" I shout at him. "Take it and be grateful"

He shakes his head at me, "No, I'm just not sure if that's what she meant to give me, dick"

Corey's like the little brother I never had. I met him back on one of my leaves from tour a couple of years ago. He was a freshman at my family's bar getting into an endless amount of trouble, as usual. Always caught up with the wrong people for his gambling. I knew he wasn't a bad kid, just involved with the wrong circles. I opened the tattoo shop, leaving it to one of my buddies when I left, and hired him. I took him under my wing, I guess you could say.

"Just take it, she would've mentioned it by now." Seth advises, "she's got money, I'm sure it was nothing" he smirks.

"Her daddy has money" the late asshole, chimes in. "What's up man?" he nods over at me.

"Hey. Punk" I introduce, holding my hand out. He shakes it and he stares at me for a minute. He doesn't look the least bit familiar, maybe I do to him? Regardless, I'm not breaking eye contact. We're having a stare in the middle of this kid's dorm.

"Dean." He finally answers, cracking open his beer. "Where do I know you from?" he asks, sitting himself on one of the recliners.

"I'm not sure" I answer with a shrug. My phone rings and I grab it from the table behind me to see who's calling. I throw my head back, this girl never stops. I met her last year over the summer, I had just come back from leave and there she was. She claimed she had just broken up with her boyfriend and was really torn up about it. Clearly, not that torn up, because half hour later she was in my bed screaming my name. She has a few weeks in between where she won't call me at all, and the out of nowhere for a day or two, my phone doesn't stop ringing. I haven't answered her since, and to be honest I don't even remember her name. She's just under SUMMER in my phone. Corey knows of her, and he makes fun of me every chance he gets. The one, one night stand I have and I manage to wrangle a stage 5 clinger.

I look up at Corey showing him my phone, and he bursts into laughter. "It's been a while, huh?"

The other guys are looking at me, I guess I should let them in on it too. "This girl I slept with _once, _last summer, keeps calling me. I mean she doesn't keep calling me, it's not a constant. It'll be every few weeks for about two days my phone goes crazy and it's just her trying to sleep with me again." I explain.

"What is she doing those other weeks?" Seth asks confused.

"I guess she's with her boyfriend or something, I don't know." I shrug, "I never asked questions, she came on to me and she hit on me. I just laid the pipe and now she calls me every few weeks"

"Desperate broad, huh?" Dean chuckles, gulping practically the entire can down.

"You could say that" I laugh, and watch him get up and head to the kitchen. My phone buzzes again, I'm scared to see what message I have. When I look down I'm surprised to find Nicole's name pop up. She'll go to dinner with me this week, fucking sweet.

"What are you smiling at so hard for dude?" Seth calls my attention. I let out a nervous chuckle and shake my head. "Nikki's gonna let me take her to dinner"

Their eyes widen. Something falls over in the kitchen and Dean comes out with his head cocked to the side. "What'd you say?"

"Nikki's let me take her to dinner" I repeat puzzled.

"Nicole Colace?" He asks and I look over at Graves for confirmation.

"Yeah" he answers for me. Dean looks at him and back at me, heading back into the kitchen. Ah, now I know where I've seen this guy before, he was with Nicole at the diner. Her best friend, I vaguely remember him rushing out the door. "Dude, just don't talk about it" Corey whispers to me. What does he mean don't talk about it? I look over at the other two who are trying their hardest to keep their eyes focused on the television.

Dean comes out a few moments later ignoring me, with a few beers in hand, plopping himself back on the recliner and stuffing his face with food. Alright then, guess I'm not going to have a problem here. He takes out his phone and starts rapidly texting on it. If this kid is doing what I think he is, I'm going to be pissed.

The entire first game goes by and we're all pretty much glued to the television. I keep checking my phone to see if I have any texts from Nikki but I don't. Guess he didn't hit her up after all, I was just worried he would tell her I told whoever we were with like I was gloating.

He waits until the other three disperse to the bathroom, or kitchen before talking to me. "We saw you at the diner, right?" He questions, finishing what looks like his tenth beer. I nod, continuing to watch television but keeping a close eye on him at the same time. This kid gives off such weird vibes. "Where'd you get her number?" he continues his interrogating.

I take a moment, debating if I should answer him or not. He might scare other people, but he sure as hell isn't making me nervous. "You her father, that your asking so many questions?"

"Something like it" he answers dauntless.

I laugh at his remark, and continue to watch the television. I'll leave him clueless to the face that I can kill him with my bare hands for a little longer. The other guys come back into the room and I'm relieved, I really don't want to kill her best friend right after she said yes to the date. I'm assuming he'll stop now, so I turn my attention to Roman. "I'm gonna leave, but, when you want to finish up the tat. Let me know alright?"

"Alright, man. Thanks" he nods, shaking my hand. I get up and shake the other two's hand and ignore the best friend on my way out. Kid's a tool.

"Oh, Punk" He calls, getting up from his seat and coming towards me. Here we go. "I'm letting you know now, that if you ever hurt her, I will fucking kill you." He threatens with a smirk. I could slap his fucking smirk right off his face.

I stare at him for a few before bursting into laughter. "Alright, big man!" I acknowledge, giving him a few hard taps on his shoulder before exiting. What an idiot, you don't threaten a fucking marine. Before I close the door, I peek back in, "Hey Graves, let him know who he just threatened alright?"

* * *

**_Ahh, so boys will be boys. Stupid Dean. Stupid Veronica. (But in all honesty, is like everyone hating Veronica yet? I need honest answers )_**

**_Also, my Punk feels are super strong right now. So sorry. _**

**_AND, people have asked about Bayley, she's coming I promise lol _**


	9. Chapter 9

**Bayley's POV**

I swing open Devin's door diving directly on top of her. "Wake up!" I shout, bouncing up and down a few times.

"OWWW!" she shouts, throwing me off her bed, grimacing. She shoots up from the bed holding her side and wobbles over to the mirror.

"What is it?! Is is your appendix?!" I shout, getting up from the floor and walking over. My eyes almost fall out of my head when I see the bandage. She's hurt! "What happened!?" I scream, pulling her away from the mirror to face me.

"Nothing happened, I got a tattoo last night" she explains calmly with a small smirk.

"What?" I know what she said, but I need her to repeat it in case, you know, I really didn't hear it . "Let me see!" I demand.

I watch as she pulls the bandage off, I'm expecting good, something rebellious! "A heart?"

"What? It's cute! Shut up, Bayles"

"A _small _heart" I repeat, staring her down. I expected more from Devin.

"I don't see you getting tattoos"

"It's not even colored in. It's just a small heart!" I yell, shaking my head and walking out of the room.

"It hurt a lot!" She shouts, following me out into our living room.

It's so easy to get under her skin, I love it. "It doesn't look like it hurt the slightest bit, you liar"

"Bayles" she says, her expression serious. "It really did hurt, I swear"

"Did you cry?"

"..Almost" she responds and I throw myself across the couch in hysterics.

"You're such a wimp!"

"Whatever, Bayley!" she rolls her eyes, and heads back into her room, taking some things out of her bag and returning, placing her things on the coffee table. "You're going to have to help me clean it and stuff."

"Well, hurry up. Dad's in town for a business meeting and he wants to take us out to lunch"

"What! No! I just wanted to spend this Sunday lying around the house with little to any clothes on, if I'm being honest" she whines. I despise her whining.

"Well too bad. He'll be here in like an hour or so" I warn.

"You should've told him I was busy studying for a test" We simultaneously look at each other and laugh. Devin's not known for her academics, she's struggled in school for as long I could remember. My father would never believe that she was staying in on a Sunday to study.

"Where'd you get that tattoo?" I ask out of curiosity.

"The tattoo place right by the bar. Your friend did it" She answers. My friend? I know she knows his name.

"Corey?"

"mhmm" she nods, staring at it.

I grab my phone finding Corey's number and text him.

**_My dad said you've ruined his little princess' innocence and he's coming after you. _**

"Get into the shower, Devs. Come on!" I nudge her until she's up and heading towards the bathroom.

My phone buzzes and I laugh at his response.

**_Tell your dad I'm going to be his son-in-law one day. Put in a good word for me. _**

Wait is that a joke? Or does he really want me to put in a good word for him with Devin? But isn't he dating Paige? I'm confused. Should I ask him if he's still dating Paige? Maybe that's none of my business. However, it is my business because it's my sister that he's interested in. I'm going to call him. I wait until I hear the water of the shower running and then dial.

_"__Talk to me, Bayley" _

"Was that a serious text?" I ask, getting straight to the point.

_"__About the son-in-law thing? Could be. Definitely about putting in a good word to your sister" _

"You like my sister?" I ask excited. This could be perfect, Devin hasn't been remotely interested in anyone since Roman. I think she's long overdue.

_"__I mean she's cute" _

"And what happened to Paige?"

_"…__.She's around" _

He sounds hesitant. I think I need to break it down for him. "Corey, you know you're one of my favorite people. I have absolutely no problem talking to my sister, but, no more Paige. No more anyone"

He chuckles nervously, and takes a deep breath. "_Let's see what you can do first, alright?" _

"Sounds fair" I respond, "I'll let you know how it goes"

Devin comes out of the shower a few minutes later and I'm waiting at the door with a smile. She jumps startled that I'm waiting at the door.

"What are you doing, you freak?" She laughs, walking into her room. I follow closely behind her.

"What'd you think of Corey?" I ask, trying to be as nonchalant as possible. She looks at me and then turns back to picking out clothes.

"He's okay, I guess" she pulls out a pretty pink spring dress and a black cardigan and holds it up, waiting for my approval.

I nod, giving her the thumbs up and when she turns around look down at my clothes. I just have on jeans and school t-shirt. Maybe I should change? Focus, at the task at hand Bayley! "He's pretty handsome, right?"

She stops what she's doing and stares at me. "Bayley, do you like him?" she asks with a smile.

"No!" I answer immediately. "No, no way. He's not my type at all"

"What is your type then?" She inquires, sitting at her vanity, and pulling out her make up.

"I don't know" I shrug, "I don't have a type"

"Everyone has a type Bayley"

Ugh, this isn't about me! "I don't know, Devin. Anyway, back to Corey, is _he_ your type?"

She stops putting on her foundation and turns around to me. "I know what this is. No, no he is not my type and why, why would you even ask that? He's so..- "

"Handsome?" I chime in and she throws her brush at me.

"He has like a girlfriend, or like a few of them and just uses them for sex. Why would you ask if that's my type?" The expression on her faces oozes confusion and offensiveness. She grabs another brush out from her draw and continues to put on her make up.

"Why don't you just give him a chance, please?"

"Bayley, no"

Well this is going to be harder than I thought. I lay back on her bed and think of ways to convince her. "What if he stops seeing all those girls?"

"Enough, Bayley" She annoyed now, I need to think of something that'll make her consider it, for real.

"Devin, if you go on one date with him, I'll write your papers until the end of the semester!" I blurt. Did I just offer that?

She turns around slowly, "What?"

"Okay, no two dates. No three! Three dates, I'll write all your _major papers_ for 2 months" I know I went back on my original deal but, you snooze you lose, and that's just the way life works.

"Why are you doing this for him?" she asks bewildered.

"I just, I think you'd really like him, once you got to know him" I answer confidently. She turns back to her mirror, I think she's considering it! I want to do a little dance, but I won't. I must contain myself.

"I have to think about it. Maybe. And only because you know how shitty I am at writing papers"

"Let's do a contract!" I squeal. "We'll write down all of what we said, and add more, take some stuff away. "

"A contract? Really?"

"Yes, because if you break one of the rules, it's just over and I write no papers." I smile. "So what do you say?"

Just as she's about to answer the apartment bell rings. Damn it dad! She gets up, wincing a bit and smiles. " I say we have lunch with dad, and I guess we have to talk about it later" she teases, dancing her way to the door.

Corey, you better not fuck this up.

* * *

**Just a little Bayley action.. I actually wrote this as a filler and liked it so it stays. **

**reviews are the best. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Dean's POV**

Here I am on Tuesday night after one of the most important games this season, in front of the women's bathroom begging Veronica to come out. The night started off great, she was happy, I was happy and then.. somewhere along the night she got mad. Typical. I keep backtracking through all my steps of the night, I didn't do anything wrong. I was with the guys, drinking , laughing, celebrating and she was with her friends . All was well and then kaboom.

I see one of my buddy's girlfriends walking by and pull her over. "Do me a favor? Check if there's anyone else in there. I need Veronica to come out, please" I beg. She lets out a little laugh, shaking her head and heads into the bathroom. A few seconds later she's out. "It's all clear" she says, and I rush in.

I lock the door behind me and find her staring in the mirror. I take in a deep breath and slowly walk over to her. "What happened, V?" I asked softly. I just want to enjoy my night, if I talk to her nicely, she'll get over whatever it is and be fine.

"You. It's always you" she snaps. I take a step back, shoving my hands into my pockets maybe this won't be as easy as I thought. "You're just such a fucking asshole, all the time! God, I don't even know how I'm still with you! I could be with someone so much better" she whines.

Her words cut me like a knife, I don't know what to say so I just stare at my feet. She reminds of everyone in my past when she speaks to me like that, "Just tell me what I did.."

"What didn't you do today, Dean?!" She pushes me with all her might, and I just take a few step back letting her. "Do you have another girl here, Dean?!" she asks and I'm confused about why she would assume that.

"No, why would you -" She shoves me again, moving me away from the door, unlocking it and rushing out. I rub my face, exhaling hard and follow after her. She's not by the bar, so I quickly head outside and spot her walking to her car. I jog over and catch up. "V.." I begin, and a hard smack comes across my face. What the fuck. For second I forget what I'm doing and I grab her wrists forcefully. "What the fuck is your problem, huh?!"

I look down at her, she looks terrified and I immediately let her go. "You're an asshole!" she screams, walking to the driver's side.

I run over and block the door, "I'm sorry, babe. You can't do that. You can't" I tell her, trying to stay as calm as possible. "Just tell me what I did wrong"

"You flirted with the girls inside!" she exclaims, trying to move me out of her way. "You were talking to them the entire night and not to me!"

"What girls? Any girl that we're with is a girlfriend of one of my teammates, V. You know that, so why are you really fighting with me?" I ask, as she continues to try to move me out-of-the-way. She punches me in the arm a few times, and I take it. Just looking at her, something in me tells me she wants me to just snap and lose it on her, but I keep my cool.

"You didn't kiss me when I got here" she responds, finally giving up on moving me and folding her arms on her chest. She's such a fucking child sometimes.

"I don't like that sticky pink shit you put on your lips. I never kiss you when you have that, you always wipe it off" I argue.

"No, it's cause you were probably checking someone else out. We're over, Dean!" She screams. "I can't take it anymore"

I look down at the ground, moving away from her car door, she climbs in quickly, turning it on. If that's what she wants, then that's what she wants. Twice in a week and a half. This has to be a record. "If that's what you want"

"You see! You won't even fight for me!" She hollers, growing more infuriated.

"Veronica, you find the dumbest reasons to fucking leave. You know god damn well, I wouldn't do that to you. Just get out of the car and cut the shit. You want me to be on top of you at the bar then fucking tell me. I'll be all over you. Don't just start fights though" I go against everything I know, and stay as calm as possible. I know she doesn't want to break up with me, she just needs to do this. She has her night to herself, and in a few hours, she'll call or text me and we'll be in my dorm like nothing happened.

"No, Dean. We're done. I mean it this time!"

"..Alright" I'm not going to fight with her, I think my laying hands on her was bad enough. She wants to leave she can. Her phone begins to ring in the car and she scrambles to hang it up without even looking to see who it is. Who could be calling her this late? A thought smacks me upside my head, what if she tells her father though? Then I'm done for. Everything I worked for will be gone, back to fucked up Cincy. "Don't leave" I call to her as she backs out of the parking spot. If I don't move she'll most likely hit me.

"We are done Dean Ambrose" She says and takes off. There I am staring and watching her drive down the street. I guess I'll do what I always do when she does this.

Drink.

* * *

**Nikki's POV**

I can't sleep. I've been in bed for two hours just laying here. I've chipped all the nail polish off my nails, I've counted the stars out my window, and in a desperate attempt I counted sheep. Who counts sheep past the age of 8!? I shouldn't have had that coffee while studying for psychology, but I need to get at least a 80 or above to stay on the soccer team. I've slacked hardcore and I'm really disappointed in myself.

The only thing I have going for me this week is that date with Phil on Friday. What am I going to wear? He didn't even tell me where we're going, I don't assume it's anything fancy but you never know. I wonder if I should wear my black dress? Is that like giving the 'easy access' signal? I think I'll just go with jeans. I hear my sister's door open and footsteps lightly walking out. Roman's still here? It's 1:30! He might as well sleep over. I debate on telling him that or not, but by the time I decide to get out of bed, he's out the door and I hear him going down the steps. Maybe next time. I'm jealous of Brie, she's been getting laid every day for like a month, and I? I have nothing. I mean, not _nothing_, but it doesn't compare to the real thing.

I shake the thoughts from my head and bring my pony tail to lay on my shoulders, running my fingers through it. Should I dye my hair before Friday? No, then he'll think I did it for our date and I didn't. I just really need to do something with this mane. It needs to get cut that's for sure, maybe I'll just do a trim on Thursday with a blow out and by Friday night it'll look like I didn't just get it done. On the other hand, maybe he likes girls that get all fancied up for dates. Being a girl is fucking hard, there are so many decisions that need to be made on a constant.

I grab my phone and look over the text between Phil and I, he seems so sweet and down to Earth. He mentioned how Dean spoke to him, what an idiot he is. I can handle myself, Dean should know that by now. He texted me an hour ago asking what I was doing, I didn't really want to tell him that I was counting sheep so I just left it unanswered. "Maybe he's still awake"

I start typing, but the screen cuts to an incoming call. I roll my eyes seeing Dean's name. "Hello?"

"Nikki, I need you to come pick me up. I'm at Brook's, and I have no way to get home" he slurs. I get up from my bed immediately, throwing on a sweatshirt and tip toeing out of my room.

"Alright, stay there. I'm coming to get you" I whisper, as I grab the keys and head out.

"I love you!" he shouts into the phone. I hang up on him without another word. I hate that he always calls me when he's in a jam, I hate myself more for always going and accompanying him or saving him. He's such an annoying person to have in my life, I wouldn't have it any other way though.

I text Phil, letting him know I'm heading towards his job and then pull on to the road. My phone rings a few minutes later. I hit the green button on my navigation screen with a smile.

"Hello?" I greet, trying to stay as calm as possible, but I can't it's Phil. I want to squeal like a child on Christmas.

"Hey" he greets, he's so soft-spoken and calm, so different from Dean. "You okay? Why are you heading over there?"

Am I okay? I tell him I'm heading there and he asks if I'm okay. My face feels like its going to rip in half with how hard I'm smiling. "Yeah, I'm okay. Dean is drunk and needs a ride to his dorm" I explain. "I just texted you because I thought you'd still be at the shop cleaning up or something"

"Oh, no. I left like an hour ago, it wasn't that busy so we just closed it up. Are you okay driving?It's late" Again, asking about me. What a sweetheart.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I drank coffee while studying for my Psych exam and it was just a dumb idea, I've been laying in bed wide awake" I laugh, "I was literally counting sheep trying to sleep, and that's why I didn't text you back when you asked what you're doing because I felt stupid telling you I was counting sheep" I admit, still laughing. When I finally stop laughing at myself, I realized he hasn't made a sound. I've just embarrassed the shit out of myself probably. He probably wishes he never called. "Phil?"

"Yeah, I'm here" he answers. "I - uh" he chuckles, "I just really love your laugh"

I don't even know what to say to him, I could feel my blood rushing to my cheeks and I'm extremely happy we're on the phone right now. "Thank you" I finally gush, biting back a giggle.

"Anytime" he yawns. I feel bad, he's probably exhausted and I have him on the phone.

"You can go to bed if you're tired, I should be there in a few minutes" I tell him. Do I want to get off the phone, not really but I'm not about to keep him awake.

"No, it's fine. I'm going to stay on with you. Just to make sure you get there alright" He says, 'If that's okay with you"

"Yeah, that's fine. Thank you"

An awkward silence takes over the car and I can't seem to find anything to say that will keep a conversation going. Think of something, Nicole, he's staying up for you! "So.." I draw out, giving me some time to think.

"So.. alright, tell me something interesting about you" he chuckles.

"Interesting about me?" I repeat, "That's hard there's nothing really interesting" I tell him.

"Come on, there's got to be something" he encourages.

"I'm a twin..?" I answer in more of a question than a statement. I don't know if that's the type of interesting he was talking about, but that's the best I can come up with at this moment.

"You don't sound to sure about that" I could almost hear his smile through the phone.

"I am" I laugh, "her name is Brianna, no one ever calls her that unless they're like mad at her, but I'm older." I ramble on.

"That's cool. I wish I had a twin"

"It has its perks, kind of" I respond. "Alright, tell me something"

"I've.. traveled a lot" he states. That was his go to answer from the beginning, he's played this game before, obviously. Now, I don't feel so special.

"Cool. Why or how?"

"Why? Who doesn't like to travel" he answers with a little laugh.

"No, I mean like, did you just not like the places you were in?" I ask, "Or do you just move, once you're tired of a place?" This sort of gives me a little background to him, if he's one to just up and leave when ever, which is the vibe I'm getting, then do I want to be invested in this?

"It was my job" he answers simply. "Alright, your turn" he rushes.

His job? "No, wait, what do you mean your job?" He's not getting out of it this easy.

"We'll talk about it on Friday, alright? It's your turn now"

I drum my fingers on the steering wheel while I think, this is really hard. Who likes talking about themselves, when there's a few I want to ask him? "I play soccer"

"Wow, that's awesome. You're on the school's team?"

I nod, and then realize he can't see me. "Yeah, we're pretty good this year. You should come to a game" I shake my head at myself. Try the date first, Nicole.

"Yeah, that sounds cool. What position do you play?"

"I'm a sweeper" I state proudly.

"I know nothing about soccer, so I don't know why I even asked" he laughs, and it almost comes off as if he's embarrassed. How cute!

"Well, now we have two things to talk about" I counter. I turn the corner and spot Dean, sitting on the corner with two guys. "I am just pulling up to the bar, so I'll talk to you tomorrow okay?"

"Alright, yeah" he sounds hesitant.

"You okay?" I ask, I stop the car and wave Dean down.

"Just text me when you get home alright? I want to make sure you're safe" Again, my cheeks begin to burn. This can't be real life right, to find someone this sweet?

"Okay, I will" I say and hang up as Dean swing the door open.

He climbs in and leans over kissing my cheek hard, he looks like a mess and smells even worse. The smell of whiskey fills my car and I want to puke. "Thank you, I love you" he says sitting back in the seat. "Veronica left me here, and I just started drinking like an idiot." he sounds so sad.

"She's such a bitch. I don't know why you let her do that to you, I mean I know why but isn't enough, enough?" He leans his head back on the headrest, and stares straight ahead. I hope my words get through to him, it's a long shot, but maybe.

"When my dad told me I'd never amount to anything. It's like I'm talking to him when ever she talks to me." He says quietly.

"Then why do you stay?"

"Who else is gonna put up with me, Nik?"

I want to scream 'ME!' at the top of my lungs, but I decide against it. He should know this by now, and I'm not repeating it. I've been there every time she wasn't and even when she was, he still turned to me.

"Can I just stay at your place? I don't want her coming by in the morning, I just need to clear my head"

I nod, keeping my eyes on the road. The rest of the ride is me biting my tongue from unleashing my wrath on him. Staying quiet is just better, he'll get back with her tomorrow anyway. I pull into the parking spot and we make our way quietly up the steps into the dorm.

He heads into the bathroom to shower, and I grab the extra comforter our mom had sent us and throw it on the couch. I look through my draws and find the pair of basketball shorts I once borrowed from him and leave it on the knob of the bathroom door. I grab some Advil and a glass of water and leave it on the small table beside the couch. I think he's all set.

I climb into bed, pulling the sheets over me, finally, I'm tired. I hear him walk out of the bathroom and a few moments later the empty glass being settled back down. Good, he's going to sleep.

I'm almost asleep when I hear a light knock at my door. "What?" I groan and hear my door open slightly. He's peeks his head in and smiles, coming towards my bed. "What do you want? It's late" I whine.

He sits on the edge of my bed, still with his smile on. "You didn't leave me a pillow" he whispers.

"You're fucking annoying, you know that?" I laugh, grabbing a pillow from underneath my head and hitting him with it. He throws it back and lays next to me. "No, I'm not sharing a bed with you" I tell him, turning towards him and pushing him away. "You don't know how to share a bed"

He lifts up my covers and throws them over him, slithering his arm around my waist and pulling me closer to him, and for some reason at this moment, I remembered I didn't text Phil. I lay there listening to him breath, and slowly begin to drift off again. "You're my best friend you know" he whispers against my neck.

"I know"

"I know I don't show it half the time, and I know I can be such a dick head to you, but I do appreciate everything that you do for me. I'll never forget anything you've done for me" he continues.

He sniffles and I turn around in his hold, he's crying? Dean never cries. "I know you don't." I comfort, "don't worry we'll be okay" I brush his hair away from his face. "We'll be okay"

"I love you" he says, and the way he says it this time. It just seem so different from the others, it sounds so heartfelt and sincere.

"I love -" I start to say, but I'm cut off by his lips crashing onto mine. It takes me a moment to realize what is even going on. I'm kissing Dean, _Dean_ is kissing me. I've waited forever for this to happen. He's drunk, no I can't let this happen, I place my hands on his chest and gently pull away from him. "Dean.."

"Nicole…I need you" he breathes, and I lose all of my senses.

I pull him into me hard, let his tongue explore my mouth and I the same with his. His hand wanders down my sides and slowly begins back up under my shirt, and I gasp at his touch. He breaks our kiss, pecking and nibbling down my neck towards my chest while his hand kneads my breast. "Dean.." I moan. His name is the only thing I am capable of saying at this moment.

The next thing I know he's standing up over my naked body, pulling my legs to the edge of the bed, massaging up my thighs. Is this really happening right now? How did he take my clothes off so quickly and smoothly? More importantly, why are his shorts still on?! He hovers over me, gently holding my face, pecking at my lips, softly, and almost lovingly.

Suddenly, he stops, and lifts his head staring me in the eyes. I meet his eyes for a moment or two and then turn away. I don't want to look at him when he realizes he's sorry he started this. He softly cups my chin bringing my face back towards his, and I look at him just in time to watch him lick his two fingers and begin to trace them down between my breasts and the rest of my body.

"You're so beautiful" he whispers, sliding his fingers inside of me. I place my hands over my mouth to muffle the moans that escape my lips, as he slides them in and out, first slowly and then quickening his pace. I close my eyes, my breathing is a little heavier, and I'm writhing slightly. "Nicole.." he draws out in a whisper. I could hear the smile painted across his lips, he's loving me like this. Hell, _I'm_ loving me like this.

He stops suddenly, and gently pulls his fingers out of me. My eyes flutter open, no, don't stop now. He pulls off his shorts, and reaches over to my night stand opening my draw and pulling out a condom. How'd he know I have those there? I hear the crinkling of the foil opening and my heart beat quickens. I'm really going to do this, we're really going to do this. He slides it on and leans down, kissing me again, the same softness and passion as before. I let my fingers run through his hair, and slowly feel him entering me. His kiss swallows my moans as he begins his rhythmic thrusts.

He pulls his lips away from mine only for a moment to stand up, grabbing my legs and wrapping them around his waist, making his thrust deeper, harder and faster. I pull his face back down and kiss him hungrily, grabbing a fist full of his hair and lightly pulling on it. My panting grows louder as his pace quickens. I can feeling the coiling in my body, I don't know how much longer I could hold back.

"Nicole.." he moans into my ear, before biting down on my neck.

It's something about the way my name rolls off his tongue. He sounds so vulnerable. He firmly takes a hold of my hips, slamming into me harder. I claw at the sheets, his chest, his back anything to try to regain myself, but I'm unraveling and quickly. He senses this and keeps going harder and faster than before. My body grows taunt due to my tightening. I begin breathing heavier. My mind empties of thoughts. In and out, pressure on certain places on my body. "Dean!" I shout, but he keeps at the same pace.

"Just let it go, Nicole" he breaths. My clenching and my breathing both become hasty and less rhythmic. The noises coming out of my mouth can barely be called human. He doesn't let up, "Fuck, Nicole…" he grunts as he continues his thrusting. Just when I think I can't take another second, I tip slowly over the edge of limitless pleasure, moaning and gasping. I know nothing.

He calls out my name one more time before he too releases, collapsing onto me almost instantaneously.

He pulls out slowly, adjusting himself on to the bed, laying flat on his back next to me.

He stands up discarding of his used condom and climbs back into the bed with me wrapping his arms around me and kissing my neck until I slip into my slumber.

* * *

My 8:30 alarm goes off and I jump up to smack it before it wakes him up. I hit the button, and rub my eyes turning over to find the other side of my bed empty. This is weird.

I grab my phone to see if he texts me, nothing from him. Just one from Phil asking if everything is okay, I'll get back to him later.

I throw on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and come out of my room to find Brie sitting at the table drinking her tea.

"Did you see Dean leave this morning?" I ask her.

"No, that's who the comforter was for on the couch?"

I nod. "Picked him up from Brook's.. he _was_ staying over, but I don't know where he is."

She shrugs, "well, at least he was nice enough to fold the comforter nicely and leave it on the couch"

Yeah, if you only knew the real reason that comforter is still perfectly folded.

* * *

Chelsie… just know that I am sorry lol

**AND WHERE THE HELL IS DEANNN!?**

REVIEW'S


	11. Chapter 11

**Veronica's POV**

_You've reached Dean, leave a message and I'll call you back shitheads. _

I've heard this message so many times over the past day and a half it makes me cringe. I hang up and text him the same thing again,

**_I'm sorry, please pick up your phone. Let's talk. I miss you_**.

Where the fuck has Dean been, and why hasn't he answered any of my calls? I didn't see him at any of his classes, or during the lunch break yesterday. I basically stalked his entire schedule and went to his Wednesday classes 5 minutes before they began and 10 minutes before they were over to see if he was there. Nothing. I don't like this feeling. Why is he doing this to me? I'm such a good girlfriend. I really don't deserve this.

I pick up the phone again, dialing his number. Next, I'll start calling his friends. Ugh, I shutter at the thought, who wants to talk to those idiots?

Again, the voicemail. I toss my phone on my coffee table and throw myself back on my couch. What if he really is done with me? No. He wouldn't be, would he? I mean okay, I have small moments here and there where it's questionable, but I'm not that horrible to leave, am I? No, I'm not. I'm god's gift to that guy after that shit life he lived in Cincinnati. I don't even feel bad for him, it's like hello you have me now, stop bitching about it already.

But, I love him. I really do.

My bedroom door creeks open and last night's beau comes out. I give him a small wave and watch him walk out the front door. I blame Dean for this, if he had just answered the phone the night we got into the fight I wouldn't have slept with this guy. Twice. It's all his fault, I hate when he makes me this way. I grab the little book of Dean's phone numbers that I have hidden in my purse. I'd steal the phone randomly and jot down all the numbers in case of something like this. It took me a while, but I finally have them all.

I'll call Seth first. God, I hate this nerd. I don't even know how someone like my Dean associates with a doofus like him. And he's like so poor, I mean Dean was too, but he's with me now and I make everything so much better. Thank god he has me, seriously.

"Hello?" A shrill voice answers. Ugh, Alexa.

"Put Seth on the phone" I demand. I have no time for small talk with this little shit. There's silence for a moment, "uh, who is this?"

"Just put him on!" I snap. I hear the phone throne and a second or two later Seth greets me. "Where's Dean, Seth?"

"...Veronica? Dude, I have no idea where he is."

"You're lying. You told him to leave me and not come back to me didn't you?"

"No, I haven't spoken to him in a couple of days." He responds. He sounds like he's lying to me. Wait until I tell Dean.

"Fine" I answer, hanging up not waiting for an response.

I look through the phone book again. I don't want to call Roman, when I went to his house last night, he had said he hadn't been home. Nicole is next, I'd rather strangle myself than call her. I guess I'll just bite the bullet.

Ehh, I changed my mind. I just remembered he definitely has practice after school today. That's where I'll find him.

For now, I'll skip classes and lay here calling and texting him until he answers me. He has to break at some point, right?

* * *

**Seth's POV**

I see Nicole sitting down in the bleachers while the lacrosse team runs their daily practice. She hasn't been to Dean's practices in a while. "What's going on?" I greet, startling her a bit. She looks like she hasn't slept, she's got dark circles under her eyes and her hair's up in a ponytail , which is rare for her.

"Hey, hi. Just waiting for this to be over. You?" she answers, keeping her eyes on the field.

"I'll wait with you" I volunteer. I want to let Dean know about Veronica calling for him this morning anyway.

She shrugs, moving over and waiting for me to sit so she can place her head lightly on my arm. "I haven't heard from him in like day. He broke up with Veronica and stood over my dorm and the next morning was gone." She divulges. Ah, this is probably why she hasn't slept. Also, it makes sense why Veronica was in a panic. Who knows what the hell Dean could be up to.

I nod, "that must have been why Veronica was looking for him this morning"

"She was looking for him? What'd she say? What did she tell you?" She asks, her head shooting up from where it laid. She sounds so nervous. Nicole nervous because of Veronica? That's something I thought I would never see.

"Nothing, just where he is" I answer, and watch a sigh of relief come across her face. This is weird. "You alright?"

She gives a small nod and turns back to watching the field. "You ever.. Like regret something you did?" She begins slightly trailing off. "But it just felt like the right thing to do" I'm confused by what she says but I nod, as to not make her feel like she's wrong. I've never seen her this hung up.

"You ever need to talk I'm here" I assure her, and watch her smile at me as we watch the team huddle up on the field for a post practice speech.

A minute later they're all running off the field and I wave Dean down.

"Punk's calling me, I'll meet you by him in a second" Nicole tells me, as I jog down the steps.

"What's up?" Dean asks, as I approach him.

"Your girlfriend called my house in a fucking fit this morning, that's what"

"Oh yeah?" He grabs his bottle of water and drinks majority of it while looking past me.

I look back and see he spotted Nicole. "She's on the phone with Punk"

He nods, "she say anything to you?"

"Just about where you were and shit like that" I answer.

"Nikki was asking about me?"

I shake my head confused. "No, your girlfriend. How'd she even get my number?"

"Probably went through my phone" he shrugs, as if its the norm.

It's then that I notice the scratches on his neck and arms. Dude got laid, that's why he avoided Veronica. This is probably one of the best thing in days. "Who'd you sleep with yesterday?"

He looks up at me shocked. "What? Who told you anything? Nicole?"

I hold up my hands up and laugh. "You have marks all over you, moron"

"Some chick"

"Some chick what?" Nicole asks, joining us.

Dean shakes his head, "Yeah, V's been calling me all day" he begins trying to change the subject. He's watching the Nicole through the corner of his eyes. Ah, he didn't tell Nicole. I'm sure she'd be happy, hell, she'd probably praise him for having a one night stand.

"Don't change the subject" Nicole interjects, "some chick what?"

"I asked him who left him all scratched up, he said some chick. Our boy had a one night stand" I laugh, nudging Nicole.

Silence falls over us, and I'm the only one chuckling. Nicole's staring at Dean intently and his cheeks actually turned a slight shade of red, he's scratching the back of his head looking down at his feet. Nicole shakes her head at him, she looks hurt. Alright, not the reaction I expected.

"That's all she was? She was just some chick?" Nicole questions with disdain.

Dean kicks something or other on the floor and continues to stare at his feet, he gives a small shrug and finally looks up at us. "Yeah. Yeah, she was"

"You're such an asshole. You deserve that piece of shit girlfriend" Nicole snaps before walking off in a huff. I look back and forth between the two of them for a moment before it hits me.

Holy fuck, Nicole was _the_ girl.

* * *

**Devin's POV**

Thursday's are the crappiest day for me. Everyone else gets out early and I'm just starting my day, it was a stupid decision that I'll just have to deal with this year. Integrative Biology, ugh. I try to my best to avoid this class at all costs, I think this is only the 10th time I've attended since we started school a month ago. I know, I know, this isn't the smartest route but when I show up there's always some guy eager to catch me up on all my work, so I'm okay, I think?

Today though, today will be different. I have my laptop and all my things ready for this class. I'm turning over a new leaf.

I make it into the lecture hall and find an empty seat in the second row, right on the corner, just how I like it. I lay my heavy bag on the floor and collapse into the seat, bending over to retrieve my laptop. When I sit up I notice Corey sliding into the seat in front of me, I am momentarily distracted by the wonderful scent of his cologne. God, he smells good.

"Good, you'll take the notes so I can take my nap" he winks.

Take his notes? He's looking up at me with what could be his most charming smile. "What?"

"I said, good, you'll take my notes" he repeats slowly, as if I'm some sort of moron. I start up my computer and ignoring him. Take his notes? What do I look like? "Do you have trouble hearing?" he asks with a smile.

I see nothing humorous about his question. "Why are you here? Your not even in this class"

"Oh, but I am, Devin. You however, make very little effort to come to this class" he smiles. Good god, stop smiling, it distracts me. "Anyway, I'm usually way back there" he answers pointing to the back of the huge hall. "Or, up there" he points to the top row. I look back to find Paige seething in her seat. _Fuck_. She's twirling her hair so hard I think she's going to rip it out of her scalp and strangle me with it.

I turn back to him and roll my eyes. "I'm not taking notes for you"

He stands up from the seat in front of me and I let out a sigh of relief when he does. Good, he's just going to sit with his little fuck buddy, goodbye Mr. Graves. Suddenly I could feel his breath on the back of my neck. "Have I ever offended you in any type of way?"

I quickly pull my hair out of the ponytail that it's in, to cover the more than obvious goosebumps and shake my head. _Just go away. _

"So why do you answer me like I have?" he asks. He's still so close and I don't know why.

"Listen.." I begin, taking a deep breath. "I'm not just one of these girls that's going to sleep with you because you're Corey Graves" I mutter.

"I like the way you say my name" I could hear the smile creeping across his face. I hear him move back in his seat and once again, let out a sigh of relief. "I've never asked you to sleep with me.." he pauses for a moment. "That I can recall"

I roll my eyes. Where the fuck is this professor?

"Devin?"

"No." I answer simply. "But, I'm not one of these girls that just woo'd by your charm and good looks ok? I'm not impressed by the tattoos or your rebellious shit"

He chuckles, "You think I'm good looking?"

I huff in frustration, out of everything I just said that's the only thing he hears?! What a jerk. I can not believe Nicole and Bayley think the world him. He's a stupid, overly confident, extremely good looking, tattooed idiot. "I'm _not _Paige, I will not be used"

"Alright" he answers impervious to my jab. "Why don't you come over Friday bring Bayley" I scoff at his invitation. "I'm not trying to get in your pants"

"Get in my pants? Who talks like that? Woman find this talk appealing?"

He laughs, and climbs over to the empty seat next to me. "No, let's just hang out" he answers, again ignoring what I just asked.

I turn on my computer, opening up Word and ready for class to begin. The lecture hall door opens and in walks Professor Neal. Thank god for this man. "I'll think about it" I quickly spew.

"Quickly, who can name the hierarchy of biological classification's eight major taxonomic ranks" Neal asks.

"I sure hope your little fingers can type fast" Corey says, peering over at my screen. "I'm gonna need this for my future job interviews"

"Shut up" I whisper harshly, as I type away at the random responses from around the room. I feel like I'm in a completely different universe in this place.

"You made a mistake" Corey says, placing his finger underneath one of the words. I shove his hands away from my screen and let out a small groan as I continue typing, as professor Neal continues his lecture. A smile lingers on Corey's face. A perfect smile. I wanted to hate it, but somewhere deep down inside of me it made me not. "Just trying to help"

"SH!"

As the hour went out Corey sat back, throwing his feet over the empty chairs in front of him. His arm behind the back of my chair while I typed furiously. He would every once in a while look over and whisper something or other about my typos but I ignored them and kept on going. I'd fix them later on when I was home. When he wasn't pointing out my mistakes he would draw in his red spiral notebook that he carried folded in his back jean pocket. I every once in a while would peak over but his arms covered majority of the paper and I could never get a clear glimpse at what he was drawing, besides that, the tattoos on his arms were so intriguing, so beautiful in their own unique way.

Neal dismissed the class and I couldn't have gotten out of there faster, I walked as fast as my legs could go but to no use, he caught up to me and was walking right beside me. A little out of breath, which meant, he ran out after me. "Was the class long enough for you to decide yes or no?"

I open my mouth to answer him but a third body comes in between us. " 'Ello". Paige greets, fully coming in between me and Corey. She slithers her arm to link it with his as the three of us awkwardly walk. "Is she helping you with biology?" she asks.

I hate how she always asks about me, as if I'm not standing right next to her. One day, I'm going to say something, but today is not that day. I depart from the two of them and walk towards the building where my next class will take place. I let out a sigh of relief, even though I don't like her I'm happy Paige got in the way. I didn't really know my answer yet and still needed time to think. I can't Bayley, she'd of course say yes without a problem.

I hear a lighter flicking and turn to find him next to me again, lighting his cigarette. What the hell? I look back and find no sight of Paige. She's definitely going to jump out of a tree and take me down for this. "You were saying?"

"I don't remember" I lie, picking up my pace.

"You were thinking" he answers, keeping up with me.

This man is relentless. "Don't you have another class to go to?" I grimace.

"No, that was my last class. I'm free the rest of the day" he answers amused, and taking a drag.

I hate smokers. However, there's something about him, holding a cigarette, that makes it look so bad ass. I internally scold myself, and brush my strands of hair behind my ear. "Will you stop following me?"

"If you say yes, then ..yes" he says after careful consideration.

I shrug as I get to the building my next class is in and walk in. I find the room and slide into my seat. I pull my laptop out of my bag and again, there he is leaning with his hands on the sides of my desk. What do I have to do to get rid of him?

"Free all day, Devin" he smiles.

I close my eyes and sigh loudly. "Yes, fine. Yes, I'll see you Friday" I let out exasperated.

He winks, "see you then, Devin"

* * *

_**SO SORRY I TOOK SO LONG! AND SUPER SORRY IF THIS IS A CRAP CHAPTER...**_

_**ALSO THANK YOU TO EVERY SINGLE PERSON THAT HAS REVIEWED SO FAR, YOU'RE ALL FUCKING FABULOUS.**_

_**&& HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHELSIEEEEE x0x0**_


	12. Chapter 12

_Right from the start you were a thief you stole my heart_

* * *

**Bayley POV's**

I've never been the jealous type, that's not something that's in me. However, as I sit here tonight and watch Devin get ready to head to Seth and Corey's apartment, and watch her help Nicole pick out her clothes, jewelry, and what color lipstick to wear for Punk, I can't help but feel well..jealous. I can't help but get a little upset that I've never shared moments like these with my sister.

I've never had someone genuinely interested in me, or found me the slightest bit attractive. Not that they've told me anyway. I'm Bayley, the brain. I've been told I don't have time for guys or dating because my education needs to come first. And I'm totally okay with that, trust me, I've seen what happens when you let men come before education but, just once, I'd like to be pursued and swept off of my feet. I want to know what it feels like for someone to crave and want you. I want a kiss, a real, over the top, bases loaded home run, kind of kiss.

Devin's always caught everyone's attention before I ever had the chance to even introduce myself. Not that I blame her, I mean, my sister is absolutely beautiful, you would have to be blind to not realize how stunning she is. Sometimes I find myself wishing we could change places, even if it was just for the day, her the brains and I the looker. I just want to see what it would be like.

"Bayley?" Devin calls, staring at me. She stands next to Nicole with her hands on her hip. "Earth to Bayley"

"Y-yeah?" I answer, thrown from my thoughts. I wonder how long she's been trying to get my attention.

She turns to Nicole, and stands next to her like she's her masterpiece, waving her hand up and down. "What do you think Bayley?"

I let out a small smile and nod, "you look beautiful, Nicole. Like always" I mean my words, I do. Just something today triggered thoughts about myself and never having dates, and I'm feeling kind of bummed out. "Where are you two going?" I ask, referring to her and Punk.

I like Punk, he's really sweet, I think him and Nicole would mesh well. He's way better than Dean, and I'm sure he'll treat her better too. I may always have my head in a book but I know and see more things than people would like me too. The first day I met Punk, he was picking up Corey from my tutoring session. He was funny and polite, for some reason I couldn't see him as a marine. I always assume they have the hard exterior, and he just didn't seem to fall into the category of what I assumed a marine was.

"Le Chateau , or something?" Nicole shrugs, running her fingers through her hair as she looks in the mirror.

"That's where we went with dad" I tell Devin. "Fancy" I smile, wiggling my eyebrows at Nicole.

She smiles, and turns towards me. "Please tell your sister how amazing of a guy Corey is."

I cross my arms and let them lay on my chest, with a small huff. "I've told her this. She should just go and hangout with him!"

"Oh, shut it, Bayley! I don't even know why you're so adamant about this. You'll have to write my papers if I go on these dates" she blurts. I stare at her intently with my eyes wide open. Devin and her big mouth!

"What?" Nicole asks in confusion. She let's out a small laugh, and I'm almost positive it's out of uncomfortableness. "What are you talking about?"

I shake my head, "nothing, Devin's just an idiot."

"Now I wanna know" Nicole replies.

"Bayley wants me to go on dates with Corey. I don't want to though, so she agreed that if I go on a few dates with him, my papers, which I suck at by the way, will be taken care of" Devin explains, and I've never been more angry at her. That was suppose to be out secret, how could she blab about something like this?!

"Devin" Nicole says in a somewhat scolding tone. "He's a cool guy! And you haven't been with anyone since Roman. Give it a chance"

"I've seen how he is and I don't like it" My sister defends herself. If it wasn't for her opening her big mouth a few minutes ago, I'd actually be really proud of her for standing up for herself, it's quite rare.

"Just don't say anything, Nicole!" I yell, without meaning to. She's startled by my abruptness.

"Okay, I won't" she says, crossing her heart. "But it's not nice, Devin." Her phone rings on our counter top in our kitchen and she quickly dashes to answer it. "Hello" she answers and I could already tell it's Punk. The smile on her face indicates it.

She's so lucky. I want to be in her place, or Devin's, anyone with a date at this point. God, tonight's just annoying.

* * *

**Punk's POV**

I drum my fingers on the steering wheel awaiting Nicole. Maybe she's not ready? Did I jump the gun and arrive too early? Does that come off as desperate? I look down at my pair of 'nice' jeans and button down shirt. You look good, Punk, I tell myself. "Le Chateau" I say allowed in the car, staring at myself in the rearview mirror. I've got to practice for when we arrive there, can't take a beautiful girl to a gorgeous place like this and pronounce it wrong, she'll think I'm an idiot. I squirm uncomfortably in my seat, I hate these 'nice' jeans, give me my sweats and shorts any day over this crap. I've got to impress Nicole though.

The door opens and I forget it's almost like I forget to breathe, seeing her walk towards the car. Holy shit, she looks absolutely stunning. This girl is way out of my league, what the fuck is she even doing agreeing to go on this date with me?She stands outside of the car awkwardly for about a second or two. Fuck, open the door for her, you moron! By the time, I unlock my doors to get out, she's already opened the passenger side and is sliding in.

"I'm sorry, I was just really in awe of you" I frankly admit. I can't help it, I'm an honest guy. "You blew me away, you look beautiful. I mean, not saying you aren't always beautiful. You look stunning in anything, I'm sure you even look stunning in your soccer uniform" I continue to babble. She tries to stifle her laugh. Now, your just embarrassing yourself, Phil. Just drive you big doof.

"Thank you" she smiles, leaning over and kissing my cheek. I can't explain it, but when her lips touched my cheek, there was such a sensation that ran through my body. I'm not use to these type of feelings. I never really get too involved with woman, it's hard, usually once they find out I'm a marine, it's like I'm some type of trophy to parade around. Nicole seems different though, I mean, from what we've spoken. Besides, Corey seems to dig her, and not in a typical Corey way, he actually likes her as a person and for her personality.

We drive for a bit in complete silence, it's awkward, but neither of us can think of anything to say. It's probably just nerves. I glance over at her quickly and find her typing feverishly on her phone. Wow, way to go Punk, you've bored her to the point of texting already and you haven't even got to the restaurant yet. She throws the phone into her bag, and let's it drop to the floor.

"You okay?" I ask. She nods, running her fingers through her perfectly highlighted hair, and brushing it back a bit, exposing her perfectly sculpted face. Her lips are painted a perfect red, the color looks so perfect on her. She's just perfect. "We can always reschedule the date, if you aren't up for it" What the fuck am I saying?

"No!" She answers almost instantly, "I'm sorry. Just my best friend, he's being stupid. He's being an asshole, he _is_ an asshole." She responds.

"You want me to kick his ass?" I say in all seriousness.

She looks over at me and giggles. "Yes, actually, I'd like that"

"What'd he do?" Not that I really need a reason, I think I'd do just about anything for this girl and I've only met her a few days ago. That could be dangerous, but I'm willing to risk it. I don't like her best friend, he's got a big mouth and a shit attitude. Ever since that day at Corey's apartment, he just left a bad taste in my mouth and I'm just waiting for a reason. I'm just praying she gives me one.

"No, I'll handle him" she answers with a faint smile. "I wouldn't let you fight for me, that's stupid."

But, I'd do it.

"I have to tell you something" she blurts, fidgeting with the hem of her dress.

"Shoot" I respond, pulling to the red light. I look over at her and watch her become increasingly uncomfortable. I can't even imagine what she's going to tell me that's making her this uncomfortable. In fact, I'm becoming uncomfortable looking at her.

"I slept with someone..." She says in almost a whisper. I nod, okay, not what I was expecting, but then again, I didn't know what she was going to say. "It was Dean" she blurts, as if she can't hold it in any longer.

I really dislike this dude more and more as time passes. "So.." I begin, but I'm not really sure what I'm going to say. Do I say it's okay? Should I even care? I mean in all fairness, we are nothing and who knows where this is even going to go. "This happened the night you picked him up.."

She looks up at me in shock, and nods sheepishly. I mean it's not that hard to put together, I'd have to be an idiot. "...do you like him?"

"No. I mean-" she stops herself and let's out a huff. "It's complicated"

"We have .. A lot of time" I answer, continuing to drive. Why did I even ask if she likes him? If she answers yes, then this date is over right here, right now. I'll turn around and drop her back off at her friend's apartment and that's that.

"Okay.. So I've been infatuated with Dean for a _very_ long time" she begins. Just fucking great, exactly what I didn't want to hear. "I've been there for him through ups and downs. Every family problem, every girlfriend problem and I have always liked him, yes." She stays quiet for a moment, sighing before she begins again. "But .. Dean has never been there for Nikki. He's never around when I need him, in fact he's the last person I call when I'm in a jam." It sounds like she's coming to an epiphany of sorts. I have a lot of questions I want to ask about their friendship but don't want to interject. "And ... I need to move on, Dean and I will never be good. I feel like he's held me back a lot, whether it be from meeting guys or being in a relationship, he has always held me back. He always tells me 'they aren't good enough for you' but you know what? You are. They are. There are men good enough for me ..and it's him who isn't" She sits back in her seat and let's out a small laugh. "You know I always wondered, how he could be with his girlfriend, because she's such a horrible person but sometimes, Dean is as deceiving and, and as much of a liar as she is. They are practically perfect for one another!"

"So.. He has a girlfriend?" I asked confused.

"He does, but she breaks up with him like every week or two. She definitely goes out and sleeps with different guys and then comes back to Dean because he's the only one that'll deal with her shit." She let's out. Again, a slew of questions come to mind, but I honestly believe this is the first time she's been able to vent about how she feels about this prick without any repercussions, so I shake them from my mind.

I pull into the parking lot of the restaurant, and watch the valet come over to replace me in the driver's seat. I quickly move over to the passenger side and let Nicole out, closely walking by her side towards the entrance of the restaurant. She smiles at me with her gorgeous chocolate orbs, piercing into mine. I hesitate to place my hand on her back, but then decide against it. So I walk beside her, awkward as fuck, I'm a tool. I should've just placed my hand there, now it'll just be weird, we're already at the hostess podium.

The hostess nods for us to follow and I take my chance, but as I go to rest my hand on her back, she attempts to link her arm with mine and our hands clash, her finger making a cracking noise. "Oww" she grimaces in pain, placing her hand over the one that just collided with mine.

"I'm so fucking sorry" I apologize, earning glances from the people at the surrounding tables. Fuck off, snobs.

"It's okay" she answers quietly sliding into her seat, swallowing the pain. "I'll be okay" she looks at her finger and tries her hardest to smile at me and assure me she's okay,"sit"

I sit down, watching her attempting to hide whatever pain I just put her through. "I'm sorry, I really am so sorry" I repeat. I feel terrible, she's still hurting. "Well, dinner will just be on me tonight, instead of splitting it since I hurt you, okay?" I smirk. I really hope she knows I'm joking about the splitting of the bill.

She finally let's out a laugh and I breathe a sigh of relief. "Let me see your finger" I demand nicely, and watch her shake her head.

"No, it's okay. I'm okay" she insists, pulling the menu over with her good hand. She peers up at me a few times through her lashes and I continue to stare. "Please, I'm fine. Just look over your menu" she whispers.

"Please, Nikki" I beg. Her eyes shoot up at me, as if she's shocked at something I said. Slowly, she lifts her hand towards me and I take it in mine. I squeeze it gently and she winces in pain, pulling her hand away from me. Great, just fucking great. First date, and I probably just broke her finger. "I have to get you to a hospital. It's swelling already" I tell her.

She shakes her head, "No! I'm fine"

"Answer me honestly" I say in my serious tone. "Does it hurt?"

She looks down at the menu and shakes her head. She's lying.

"Nikki, look at me. Look at me and tell me honestly. Please?"

"Okay, okay. Yes, kind of, but you planned such a nice night" she pouts.

"No, come on. Get up, I just want to make sure you're okay." I insist, standing up from the table. "Come on, let's go"

This girl is never going to want to date me again. Here we are on our first date, I plan a nice fucking thing, and we are sitting in the hospital emergency room, because I'm a dipshit and quite possibly, just broke her pretty little finger.

"Can you fucking move any slower?" I yell at the man behind the window. He's sitting on his office chair, staring up at me, while he looks through some folders that he grabbed from the tall pile on his desk.

"Sir, please" he tells me, turning his attention to her. "Spell your first and last name" he demands in his monotonous voice.

"It's Nicole. You don't know how to spell Nicole?" I yell. "N-I-C-O-L-E" I rarely ever let my temper show, but this man is just pushing every button possible. "She could have her fucking finger broken, but it's more important to get her fucking name now, right?"

The man stares at me and then back at Nikki. "Last name?" He asks her completely ignoring me. I'm at the end of my rope, I slam my palm against the tempered glass, the only thing saving him at the moment. He doesn't flinch, just stares at me. "If this glass wasn't here, your keyboard would be shoved so far up your ass right now"

"Phil.." Her voice cuts through all my rage and I stop, turning to her. "Please just sit, I'm going to talk to him, okay? The faster I get this done, the faster I get in" she says calmly. I feel like an idiot for letting this piece of shit get the best of me, but I comply and sit directly behind her so I can see this asshole.

She finishes giving her information and sits down beside me, placing her hand on my bouncing knee. I'm not sure if it was to stop me from bouncing, or just to rest her hand. Regardless, I stay still. I can't let people stay hurt, it's been put in my instincts to react as quick as possible and get them they help they need, in whatever means necessary. She slowly places her head on my shoulder, causing me to tense up at first. I already hurt her once, can't do that again.

An hour passes before she's finally called in. My body is killing me from staying so tense, but when she gets up to follow the nurse I finally relax.

She looks back at me and stops when she see's me still sitting down. "You aren't coming with me?" She asks, in the most innocent voice I've ever heard. How can I stay after that? I quickly jump up and follow her to the other side.

I hate hospitals, the smell, the beeping from the machines, the loud sounds of the ambulances entering and heading back out, so many bad memories come back to me walking into these places. I try to take a few deep breaths to stay calm, for myself and for Nikki. They show her to a small area, with two beds and a single chair in between the two. Thank god the other bed is empty, no roommate, yet. She plops herself on the bed and waits while yet another person comes and takes her information.

"And what happened?" The RN asks, immediately Nicole blushes trying to hold back a laugh.

"I'm not sure, my hand just slammed into his and then I heard like a sound come from my finger. It just really hurts"

I bury my face into my hands. This is not how the night was supposed to go!

The nurse examines her finger, quickly and delicately, Nicole grimacing. "Alright, the X-Ray rooms are all being occupied right now. I'll come to get you when they're free. It doesn't seem broken, but we'll X-Ray for fractures, okay?" The RN explains, jotting down something or other. "Just lay back or sit, whatever you want. It might be a little while." She gives me the once over, "and you're the husband? Boyfriend?" She asks.

Nicole and I laugh. "This is our first date" Nicole answers.

"How romantic" she quips, exiting the small area. I'm not sure if she meant it sarcastically or genuinely.

"I'm so sorry. I really can't stress that enough" I sigh, shaking my head.

"It's really okay, I swear." She laughs, "I just want it to stop hurting"

"Understandable" I nod, sitting on the chair.

"I'm going to be here for a while. You don't have to stay, you know?" She tells me and I laugh. Does she really think I'm going to leave her here alone? Regardless of how much anxiety this place gives me, I couldn't leave her here. That's just so many levels of wrong.

"No, I'm staying. Stop. Are you hungry, want coffee or something?" I ask.

She shakes her head, "I'll tell you when I'm hungry" she smiles.

I nod, and let myself relax a bit. Silence hangs over us and I'm not sure what to say. I've already apologized so many times, that if I say it again, she might deck me.

"So what's your job?" She asks, running her good hand through her long beautiful hair. Every inch of this woman is absolutely beautiful and perfect.

"I'm in the Marines" I answer, shoving my hands into my jean pockets.

"Really?" She asks, surprised.

I nod, pulling out my dog tags from my shirt. She leans over a bit, and I stand up letting them slip into her small hands. She observes them cautiously, checking the front and back and running her thumbs over the raised letters.

"Thank you" she says, looking directly into my eyes. I'm confused at why she's thanking me. For bringing her here maybe? "Thank you for risking your life for .. Me, us, everyone"

I could feel my cheeks burning, and I pull away from her gaze slowly. "It's no big deal"

"It's a huge deal, Phil" The way she says my name, it sends shivers down my spine. I like that she calls me Phil, no one ever calls me that. It's always either Punk or Brooks. "You can kill someone with your bare hands" she tells me, her eyes slowly drift down to them.

I nod, "Tell me about soccer this year" I try to get the conversation from me. I don't like talking about myself, or what I do for a living.

"Have you ever killed anyone?" She whispers, looking around at the big open space of nurses, doctors and patients going back and forth, as if I'm some sort of serial killer.

"I've had to, yes" I answer, crossing my arms over my chest.

She stares at me for a few moments, taking it in. "Was it a bare hand type of thing?"

I laugh, she's adorable. "No, not everything can be done with just my hands"

She smiles, and light shade of red comes over her cheeks. I'm an asshole, I made her feel embarrassed.

"Where have you traveled too?" She continues, seemingly unfazed.

"All over" I shrug. "Mexico, Florida, Mid West, Alaska. I've been to Europe, Middle East." She stares at me attentively, she seems to become more impressed with me the more places I name. I could lie and add more, but I won't. She bites her bottom lip lightly, listening to me go on about these places. I get this sudden urge to kiss her out of nowhere. Just do it. Do it, Punk.

I lean in, and clearly she had the same idea because our heads crack right into each other. "Fuck!" I let out annoyed at myself, I can't do anything right tonight. She looks at me and begins laughing hysterically, holding onto her forehead with her good hand. I move away from her and hop onto the empty bed across from her. "I break your finger, possibly just gave you a concussion" I roll my eyes. Of all girls to fuck up the first date with, she is not the one I wanted to do it to.

She continues to laugh and I feel like a fool. "I'm the clumsy one" she finally says, rubbing her forehead. She moves her hand to show a red bump beginning to form. I feel absolutely terrible. I sulk in the seat and listen to her continue to subdue her laughing. "Clearly we can't be close to each other"

I smile, "you want me to get the nurse?" I ask her and she shakes her head.

"I'm not made of porcelain, you know"

"Yeah, but I just feel like.. I need to protect you" I explain. "It's in my nature"

"Is it because of the Marines?" She asks.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." I shrug. I don't want to talk about this anymore. She seems so intrigued by it though, I want to know about her. "Tell me about soccer.."

She shrugs, "there's not much to say about it"

"How'd you get into it?" I ask, hoping that might help.

"Just something me and my sister began playing when we were really young. We were always competitive growing up and our mother threw us in soccer, turns out we were really good." she smiles, looking down at her legs.

"So tell me what the sweeper actually does"

"We're like the last line of defense before the goalie. It's like us and then the goalie, I'm really good at what I do" she beams. "You should come to my game this coming week"

"I will" I state, and I guess my answer catches her off guard because she questions me. "I promise, I will"

"You probably have work" she giggles.

"I'll take off, just tell me what night" I mean it, besides, I have to make up having the emergency room be the setting of our first date.

"Thursday" she replies, and I nod.

"Done. I'm there"

Half hour later, the nurse comes in, taking Nicole to get her x-rays done. I sit around waiting and text Corey to see how his night with Devin is going. No response, so I decide to fill him in on my stupidity throughout the night, that I get a response to. A big **HAHAHAHA** comes across my screen and I throw my phone back in my pocket, he's a piece of shit.

Nicole returns with a splint on her finger, and laughs as she shows it to me. This girl, probably the only girl who could manage to laugh through this entire ordeal. She signs her release papers and wraps her arm around mine carefully this time, as we are finally allowed to leave. We pass the same asshole that wasted so much of our time in the beginning and I flip him off as he sits on his computer and types his life away.

I get into the car and check my watch for the time. "11:45" I say aloud shaking my head. "I'm really sorry" I apologize once more for good measure.

"I honestly, had a better time sitting with you in that small room in pain than any fancy dinner" she says leaning over, and pulling me to her by my shirt. She places her lips on mine and I sorta lose track of everything else that's going on around me.

Nicole, she's the one. I'll do everything in my power to show her and protect her, at almost any means necessary. Promise.

* * *

_**MY NIKKIPUNK FEELS GOT THE BEST OF ME ANDDDD I'm SORRY.. **_

_**This chapter wasn't suppose to go this way at all but it ended up this way and well... i like it lol **_

_**Thank you to every single person who's reviewed this thus far, you're all really the best and I really do appreciate it.**_

_**This is only part one of the chapter. Part 2 **__**will**__** either be up tonight or tomorrow! **_

_**XOXO**_


	13. Chapter 13

**Seth's POV**

I walk into the living room to find Corey sitting impatiently in front of the television. It's Friday, why is he home? I told Alexa to come over because I know he works on Friday's or is just out causing some sort of trouble. I swing the door open to find Alexa standing there with her adorable smile painted on her face. She makes me fucking happy.

"Hey Corey" she greets, before turning around to kiss me. He doesn't respond, he just stays focused on the television. "What's he doing here?" she asks, and I shrug. "I'm not sure. Thought he had work"

She stands in front of the television knocking him out of his gaze. "Hey, short shit" he smiles, getting up to hug her. I like that these two get along, things are better this way.

"No work tonight?" I ask.

He shakes his head, "Punk has that date with Nicole, and Devin and Bayley are coming over to hang out"

Did I just hear him correctly? Devin and Bayley? What are they coming over for? "My Devin?" I ask. Alexa and Corey turn and look at me. Fuck, I did it again.

"Yeah, I guess" Corey replies. He gets up from the couch and heads to his room, closing the door behind him.

I don't want Devin coming here, I don't want her hanging out with Corey when I'm not around. Not that she would fall for him, Corey's not her type, I don't think. But, what if she does, and they end up dating and then being together forever and getting married because I wasn't here to stop it? I don't want Devin dating Corey, I don't even want Devin liking Corey. No, this isn't in the plans. I need to stop this.

"You know.." Alexa begins quietly, "I really don't like that you refer to her as my Devin. It really bothers me"

I don't even know how to respond to that. She is my Devin though, I can't help it, it just sort of comes out. "I'm sorry" I answer, before getting lost in my thoughts. "Bad habit, I guess"

She nods and comes over towards me, wrapping her arms around my waist and squeezing with all her might. "It's okay, I forgive you" she says sweetly, looking up at me and puckering her lips.

Just as I lean down and place mine on hers, there's a knock at the door. It must be Devin, I quickly unravel Alexa's arms from around my waist and head to the door, swinging it open to find her.

She has on her oversized sweats and my sweater from our high school soccer team, that I gave her the night of our championship game. She's wearing her bright red rimmed glasses, I love when she's wears them. There's just something about her in glasses that makes me so attracted to her. Her hair is a mess on the top of her head and she barely has any make up on. Pfft, I have nothing to worry about, this Devin that is in front of me now has no interest in Corey Graves. I open the door wider gladly welcoming her inside. "What's up?" I greet with a big smile, doing a double take when I notice Bayley strolling in behind her. "Bayley, I didn't even see you"

"Story of my life" Bayley mutters and enters hugging Alexa and throwing herself on the recliner.

"Hey you" Devin smiles, kissing my cheek. "I didn't know you would be here tonight" There's some relief in her voice and that makes me feel good. Lately, I felt that we were drifting apart but this, this made me feel a little better.

"Well, I don't know for how long" Alexa chimes in, holding her arms out for Devin. "We have plans for dinner and maybe a movie." She says eying me as she hugs her. I have to think of something and fast, I will not leave them here alone. Corey seems to always manage to get the girl he wants at whatever costs.

"Look at you with your glasses and your hair all a mess" I tease.

"Yeah, she's trying to be unattractive" Bayley says, rolling her eyes. Her and I both know Devin is one of the few girls that could never be unattractive. "Corey!" She shouts, and fumbling is heard in his room. I can't put my finger on it, but something's wrong with Bayley, she's not her usual uppity self.

I turn my attention back to Devin and Alexa. "Maybe, we'll just get food with them babe and just chill here" I cautiously let out.

"I would love that, stay" Devin begs, grabbing on to both Alexa and my arm. I don't understand, if she doesn't want to hang out with Corey, why is she even here? No one looks like they want to be here, and it's really throwing me off.

"That's cool with me" I immediately answer. "We'll stay"

Corey's door swings open and almost instantaneously I feel a small hand around my wrist. "Can we talk?" Alexa asks, her lips pursed. I nod, "privately" she adds, walking into my room and closing the door behind her. I take a deep breath, if I go in there, there's time for them to talk and I'm not sure I want that right now. However, if I don't follow Alexa, that'll be a fight I really want no part of. I guess, I'll follow Alexa.

* * *

**Alexa's POV**

No. I'm not fucking staying here. He wants to spend time with Devin, let him call her then. This was our night, we've had this planned for a while! I will not give it up for her.

He has 5 more seconds to enter this room or so help me god, I will walk out of here and he will not hear from me until I feel he has learned his lesson.

3,...2,... The door swings open and there he is. "Babe.." He begins and I cut him off immediately.

"No. Seth, no. I'm not staying here tonight, you promised me a night out just us. Your going to break that promise again, for Devin?" I may sound harsh, but I can't take it anymore. He drops everything for her and I'm getting a little tired of it. I know, she's his best friend, and he always wants to be there for her but she's a big girl. She can handle herself.

He throws his head back and sighs. "Alexa, please. I never, ever ask anything of you. Just please"

"You never ask because you just do it without even considering my feelings" I snap. I'm really trying to stay calm here. I don't want to fight, and I definitely don't want out first fight to be about Devin.

"Okay, you're right. I do, I do that. But, I'm here now, taking things into consideration and I just really want to order in and stay here ...and chill out." He replies.

I stare at him trying to figure out the real reason he wants to stay. Is it because he's protecting Devin from Corey's ways or.. Is it something else? "Do you still like Devin?" I blurt and I'm shocked at myself for asking such a thing.

His eyes widen, and he stands there with his hands in his pockets looking back at me. "What? Stop" he replies. He didn't answer the question though.

"Tell me, I can take it" To be honest, I really wouldn't know what to do if he says he does. Cry? I don't know, this isn't something I thought out.

"Stop. No" he answers, looking down at his feet. "Listen there's just a lot going on and something happened with Nicole and Dean. I'm almost positive Corey knows about it and I can't have him telling Devin because then Devin will tell Veronica and at that point life as we know it will be over for all of us." My gut tells me he's lying but why would he make up such an elaborate story.

"What happened between Nicole and Dean?" I ask. I want to see what this huge secret is, and if it's big enough for Seth to be making such a big deal out of it.

He looks at me, hesitant. "They...slept .. together" he finally lets out.

Holy shit, what?! I am stunned. Never in a million years did I think that Dean and Nicole would.. Wait, when would this even happen? How does Seth know? Why would Corey know before anyone else? "How did you find out?" I inquire.

"I was with Nicole on Wednesday and she said something and then Dean said something. Nicole got really mad at him and then I just put it together" he answers proudly.

Something still doesn't seem right. "So, then...how does Corey know?"

He looks at me as if I just threw a curve ball. If he's lying he won't have an answer to this. Ha! "Uhh.. He's pretty close with Nicole" he spews out. He nods, and I'm almost sure he's trying to convince himself about the information he just gave.

I don't want to believe him, but everything seems kinda legit. I understand why he wouldn't want Devin knowing about Nicole and Dean and I didn't know Corey and Nicole were that close. God, if Veronica found that out we'd all be dead.

Something just isn't sitting right with me, but I can't land my finger on it. Ugh, I guess, Seth has good reason to want to stick around. "Fine" I let out annoyed. "We'll stay, but you fucking owe me"

* * *

**Corey's POV**

"About time you showed up" I greet, throwing myself on the recliner opposite Bayley so I can get a good view on them both. Devin looks...different. Not in a bad way, just not what I'm use to seeing girls dressed like when I invite them to my house.

"Bayley was getting started on a paper" she shrugs, lifting her glasses up a bit and then shoving her hands into the front pocket of her big sweater.

I open my mouth to comment on her ensemble, but decide against it. That's probably what she wants, and I'm going to show her that I don't really care. "Speaking of papers, did you get started on your bio paper?" I ask instead.

She seems to be caught off guard and frowns at my question. She shakes her head, "you?"

"I finished it already" I boast.

"It's not do for another week" she says, scrunching her nose. She is fucking adorable.

"It's not hard, a page on the shit he was rambling off in class. It took me half-hour tops to finish it."

She stares at me unaffected. "I'm a procrastinator, I guess" she shrugs, looking over at Bayley.

Bayley looks absolutely miserable sitting here. This is not the Bayley I am use to hanging around with. "What's up my Bayles?" I call out, only to have her look over at me and give me a thumbs up and go back to watching TV. Alright.

Devin gives me an unsure look, letting her hair down. I watch her carefully watching her run her fingers through her thick hair and tying it back up into a mess on the top of her head. That hair would look really wrapped in the palm of my hand being pulled. Jesus Christ, Corey stop, I scold myself. "So.. Yeah, if you need help, I'll help you"

She smirks at me as if I just said some kind of joke. "You, help me?"

I nod, "I'm acing that class, Devin"

"He's got an A in almost every class!" Bayley chimes in. "Except for math!" She smiles, "that's where I'm his genius"

She looks at me questionably. "What? I can't be handsome and smart?"

She rolls her eyes. "So why do you fight, and work in the tattoo shop? You should've applied for scholarships"

"_Wrestling _is what I love to do, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for wrestling. I work at the tattoo shop because my parent's suck and left me to do this all on my own because they were tired of me -" I stop myself. Can't lay it all out on the table tonight. "Listen, bottom line is if you need help, I'm here, princess."

She rolls her eyes at my nickname. "I can write my own paper" she tells me, and immediately Bayley scoffs. She bites her bottom lip, she's thinking. "Why'd you have to turn to fighting? Why couldn't you do something less..barbarous?"

I shrug, "I'm good at it. It's just easy money at this point."

"But you're getting hit in the face" she exclaims.

"Are you worried about me, princess?" I smirk.

* * *

**Devin's POV**

I make a face and he chuckles. Princess? I hate that pet name. "This look.." he begins. He seems like he's searching for the right words. "This eau natural thing you got going on" Ha, he _did_ notice. "I like it" he says to my surprise. I try to keep my jaw from hitting the floor. He likes this, what the hell? My plan totally backfired. "Girls don't come over here like that often" he finishes.

"Come over here like what?" Seth says making his way over to me on the couch. My eyes meet Alexa's and she just doesn't seem at all pleased to still be in this apartment, she forces a smile and then plops herself on Seth.

"Like that" Corey says, pointing at me. I can feel my ears smoldering. I hate being pointed at.

"Let the record show, that I was pretty much given no other choice and pressured into coming. I wasn't trying to impress you" I snap, annoyed that this hobo look didn't scare him off. I don't know how other girls could just throw themselves at him. The more he tried to make me laugh, the more uncomfortable I became.

"I'm already impressed by you, Devin. You know that. I never beg girls to come over, they usually just.. come" he states.

"Not at all surprised" I quipped. He is the kind of confident you pray you never find in a man like this. He's so aware of his sex appeal and he's so use to women throwing themselves at him, that he doesn't seem offended by my demeanor. I guess I'll have to turn to plan B. Or C? I'm losing count.

Bayley grabs the remote and raises the volume. "There's this awesome documentary on Mermaid coming on in about 5 minutes." She says excitedly. "Anyone down to watch?" She looks around the room, hoping to receive energetic nods but instead just gets blank faces. She places the remote down and holds her hands up, "Or not, that's cool. I have it recording on the DVR anyway"

"I was actually going to grab food" Corey says standing up from his seat. "You want ..to maybe grab food, princess?"

"I ate already" I answer.

"No you haven't" Bayley says before realizing her blunder. "Oh.."

I shake my head, and look down at my fingers, fidgeting with them. "Come on, let's get you food, princess"

"Actually, we'll go, we'll go get food with you too!" Seth scrambles, nearly throwing Alexa off his lap. "We didn't eat either." Alexa stares at him, she's really pissed off for some reason.

I'm actually relieved that they're coming, this would just be very awkward if it was just Corey and I. I look over at Bayley and widen my eyes at her, signaling her to chime in as well. She huffs before standing up as well, "Yeah, I'm hungry too" she says, so unconvincing I could slap her. What the hell is wrong with her tonight?

The five us head downstairs to the parking lot, and I begin walking with Bayley to our car. "Where are you going?" Corey asks, and I turn around and point to my car.

"I'm going to my car?" I answered puzzled.

"Seth, take Bayley. Come with me, Devin" he says, and we all sort of stand around looking at each other for a moment. "Seth, take Bayley" he repeats, and then opens his passenger side door for me. "Devin come with me"

* * *

**Bayley POV's**

I feel like I'm the fat kid waiting to be picked last in dodge ball. Corey keeps repeating the same thing and no one looks like they want to take me in their car. I mean, I know why Corey doesn't want me in that car. He wants to schmooze Devin, but Seth for god sakes just unlock the car door!

He finally does and I climb into the backseat, putting on my seatbelt and waiting for the other two to get in. I watch Devin and Corey climb into his car and look as Seth asks Corey something or other and Alexa make their way to the car I'm in. I'm fucking fifth wheel. Ugh, how does this always happen to me!? There's a stinging in the back of my eyes and quickly rub them. You will not cry, Bayley. This is stupid and absolutely nothing to get upset over.

Alexa's door swings open and she slams it with the same force. She quickly turns around in her seat, stopping when we make eye contact. Oh god, can she tell I'm upset? "Are you okay?" she asks, tilting her head to the side a bit.

I quickly nod, "Yeah, just an eyelash in my eye" I lie.

She nods, and turns around as Seth opens his door. "Sorry for what you're about to witness, Bayley" she rushes out.

I roll my eyes. What have I done to deserve this? I'm a good person!

Seth starts the car and we pull off onto the street, Alexa pulls down the mirror of the reflector and I could see the rage in her eyes. I've never seen her this furious before.

"First, I'm sorry Bayley" she fumes, and then turns her attention to Seth "What the fuck is your deal tonight?" I awkwardly look out the window trying to ignore whatever is about to go down.

"What?" Seth asks, he doesn't sound too confused, so I'm assuming he knows what he's done? Just mind your business Bayley.

"You know what! First, we're going to stay in because of Devin and Corey. Now we're going out because of Devin and Corey! You know what, I don't believe what you told me earlier!"

Seth glances over at her and then back to the road. "What?!" he voice cracks. Ooh, Seth's lying. His voice always cracks when he's lying. "Why would I lie about something like that?!"

"I'm so over this, Seth. I'm over your stupid little lies, I'm over being at Devin's beck and call. I'm just over it. I'm your girlfriend, _not_ Devin!" Wow, go Alexa. I often do question if Seth is still in love with Devin, sometimes I think yes and clearly, I'm not the only one. That sucks for Alexa if he still is. "I'm going to ask Bayley if she knows"

"Alexa! Stop!" Seth yells, catching us both off guard. What does she have to ask?! I want to be filled in on why they're fighting! I open my mouth but decide against it and sit back. "I told you something in confidence and you're being really immature about it now!" Low blow, Seth.

"If I'm immature _why_ are you with me then, huh?!" Alexa shouts. First thing you don't do when you're called immature is ask an immature question like that Lex.

"Because honestly, I didn't think you were like this! If you're going to be like this with me about shit I tell you and about Devin. Then this right now is over" Seth's voice is stern. I think he catches Alexa by surprise by his demeanor because she immediately stops and sits back. I catch his glance through the rear view mirror and he seems relieved. Something's off here, I have to get to the bottom of this.

* * *

**Devin's POV**

I get out of the car, letting my hair out of the bun on the top of my head and let my hair fall, running my fingers through it a few times. "I like your hair down" he softly speaks, and I immediately wrap it back up into a bun.

He laughs, shaking his head and heading towards the entrance of the pizza restaurant. "We should wait for them" I call to him.

He spins around, "You could walk with me into the restaurant, Devin. I'm not going to bite. Unless, you like that type of stuff" He smirks. One nice comment, ruined. Of course.

Seth's car pulls up and I smile at them. Good, they're here. I wait for Bayley to get out of the car and intertwine my arm with hers. I don't like sad Bayley, it makes me sad and I worry when she's like this. "We so need to talk on the way home" she whispers, and secretly points to Seth and Alexa. "Pretty heated stuff"

"Really?!" I whisper in shock and make my way in the restaurant still locked on Bayley's arm.

"Hi guys, how many?" The cheery waitress asks. Corey answers and I turn my attention back to Bayley, the place looks pretty crowded, I doubt we're getting a table soon.

"Come on, princess" Corey calls, coming in between myself and Bayley.

I follow him to a table and laugh when I see it's just a table for two. "Very funny" and look back to find Seth, Alexa and Bayley a few tables down. "What's going on? Why aren't we sitting with them?"

"It'd take too long to sit all of us together. So Alexa said we should go ahead and sit and they'll sit them three" He explains. Ugh, no. I look over at Seth and Bayley helplessly and slide into my seat. "What do you want to drink?"

"Water's fine" I answer, and listen to him tell our waitress.

"Anything for you, Corey" she smiles, she looks so happy to have him even speak to her as she makes her way to the back.

"Come here often" I asked sarcastically.

He sits back in his chair, with a smirk. "So do you hate all men, or just me?"

"It could just be you" I mutter.

"I can't get a good read on you. You came to the shop that night and you seemed interested."

"I was drunk!" I rebuttal, but he continues as if I've never spoke.

"And then any other time after or before that, you just detest me" His words are pretty harsh, I don't think I'm that nasty to him. "You don't get flustered when I speak to you, you don't try to get my attention"

"It's not a game. I don't like you" I let out.

He leans in and smiles, "You wouldn't be here if you didn't"

I tried not to smile, but failed. He's fucking relentless, and kind of, sort of charming in a way. "You're not a bad person. I just don't like your ways."

"So you can be a sweetheart" He chuckles, leaning his elbows on the table and leaning in intently. "Tell me about you. What's your story?" He asks. For the first time, I feel like he's kind of being genuine.

I shrug "I don't know, I'm a journalist maj-"

"How fucking precious, you both on a date" That fucking accent, I could never forget it.

Corey's head drops and he slowly looks over in the direction of Paige. "What the fuck?" He whispers exasperated.

"Is tha' why you couldn't spend the nigh' with me?" She asks him, while her eyes are glued on mine. She has this sadistic smile painted on her face.

I'm suddenly reminded as to why I don't want to be involved with Corey. Her name is Paige.

"How'd you even find me here?" He asks in a whisper.

"I got a tex' tha' you brough' someone else here. Take me home" Her eyes are still on me, I could feel them. She's freaking me the fuck out. "Maybe we'll take this poor little one home as well. She's far from home, righ'? She asks me.

"Paige, go home. I'll talk to you tomorrow" he tells her.

"I will make such a scene here, you don' wan' it, Corey. Take me home"

He rubs his face with his hands and stands up. Oh, fucking wonderful. Leave me here to look like a home wrecker. I quickly do the same and rush past the both of them towards Seth and Bayley. "Just get me the fuck out of here" I tell them as I continue walking outside.

Seth chases after me with Bayley and Alexa at his heels. "Fucking weird right that she just shows up like that? Wow, huh?" I shake my head and stand by the back door. "She's fucking insane" he voice cracks. It catches me off guard at the moment, but on the drive home it hits me. _Why are you lying Seth?_

* * *

_**Sorry it was a day later than expected. Hope you like it and really thank you to everyone who reviews. You're the best.**_


	14. Chapter 14

_Cause in a sky full of stars, I think I see you - Coldplay_

* * *

**Seth's POV**

I'm not sure if Corey has even the slightest clue that it was me that texted Paige, but I've kept my distance just in case. But, he's my roommate how much distance can I really keep in between us? I look down at my phone and see a text from Alexa, she's probably here. I invited her out tonight, to kind of make up for Friday, she likes when she's the only girl invited out with our group of friends. It gives her a sense of reassurance, I suppose.

"Alexa's outside" I tell Roman and Dean, "I'm gonna go get her"

"When did this turn into guys and girlfriend night?" Dean asks annoyed.

I brush him off and keep walking, he's just pissed because of that whole sleeping with Nicole thing and her going on dates with Punk. Also, the fact she hasn't answered any of his calls or texts since Friday. He's also been avoiding Veronica, which no one is complaining about at all. I think this could actually be it, the end of an era. No more fucking Veronica Lane in our lives.

I finally get outside and look around at the crowded sidewalk. Sunday's is always crazy here at Brook's, I don't know why we don't come here more. We came here tonight because Corey doesn't want Paige to show up at the apartment, but this really should be a regular thing.

"Seth" her tiny voice cuts through the crowd and I find her leaning on her car.

I make my way to her, pull her to me and hug her hard. I've missed her. We haven't spoken since Friday night either, and I don't blame her. I don't know what the fuck got into me stopping everything for Devin. Alexa makes me really happy, and she's completely understanding and sweet and just all around perfect for me. I need to stay focused on what I have and what's in front of me. "I'm sorry" I whisper, lifting her face up to mine and placing short kisses on her lips and then the top of her head. "I'm so sorry" I feel her tiny arms wrap around my waist, holding me just as tight. We stay there for a few minutes just in silence, just happy to be back in one another's arms. "Ready to go in?"

"Yeah" she answers, sliding her hand into mine, as I lead the way back in. "No one else's coming?" she asks.

"No, Brie's studying for a test with Bayley. I haven't spoken to Devin, and Dean and Veronica still aren't talking" I reply, moving people out-of-the-way and letting her through.

"Oh" she answers, with no context to her voice. "That's cool" she isn't how she usually is with me and I could only blame myself. I guess, I'll just let her be until she's ready.

* * *

**Punk's POV**

Here we are sitting in my family's bar for Sunday night football, and to be honest, I rather be with Nicole now. I can't get enough of her. I took her out yesterday afternoon before her shift at the school store began, as a sort of 'I'm sorry' for the shit of a night I gave her Friday. She seemed so happy to just go to lunch, she's such a fucking good girl. I'm chalking up her sleeping with that douche bag to a severe lapse of judgement. I can't say it doesn't bother me because that would just be a lie, but there's really nothing I can do about it, so I just have to let it go. Maybe.

Roman and Dean are arguing over stats about whatever fucking sports they play, and Seth and his girlfriend are awkwardly conversing. I look over to Corey who's nursing his beer and being quieter than usual, this is unusual. "What's up? Why are you so quiet?"

He shrugs, "Paige is fucking driving me up a wall"

I chuckle, shaking my head. "I don't know how you fucking do that." He goes to speak but I cut him off. "Regardless of how amazing the sex is with her. All the crazy is not worth it"

"Kinda is" he answers. This is why I have no pity for Corey. "I haven't even seen you since Friday to tell you what she did." I shake my head and wait until he's done downing his beer to continue. "I was out with Devin Taylor, just at a pizza place, she showed up and wouldn't leave without me. She cock blocked me"

"Why'd you tell her where you going, idiot?"

"No, dude. I swear - Why would I tell her I was going there with Devin?" He asks sarcastically and I shrug. "She said someone told her I was there with someone else, so she came. Ruined the entire fucking thing"

"But.. why are you trying to get with the other one? You already have Paige" I never understood the multiple partners thing. If you have someone that's there, willing to give you it all when you ask for it, why mess that up with getting more girls? I don't even wait for an answer from him, "What'd the other girl do?"

"She fucking left with Seth, Alexa and Bayley. I had to take Paige home"

"So you left the girl that you were on the date with, to take home the girl you fuck every night, but want absolutely nothing to do with her otherwise. You're dumb as shit."

"She was going to fuck shit up in that restaurant" he chuckles. "Hey, at least I didn't break the girls finger, right?"

I laugh, scratching the back of my head. "So, we suck at first dates"

"That's why we're best friends" he states, signaling the bartender over, and ordering himself another drink. "You inviting Nikki to come meet up with us?"

"I don't know, I thought about it but she's not talking to dickbag over there. So I don't want to make it all awkward." I answer.

He looks over at Dean and back me, "She's not talking to Dean?" he asks, confused. "What happened there?"

"Not sure" I lie. I hate lying, but it's not my place to tell Corey what the fuck happened between them two, if she wants people to know she'll tell them.

"Who gives a shit, invite her anyway. You know I got your back if anything goes down" He pats my shoulder.

I should invite her out, I shouldn't care about this little shit. She has me now, I'm content with it and I think she's content with it. I pull out my phone and send her a text asking her if she'd like to come out. Almost immediately she writes back, asking where I am. I begin typing but stop, "Do I tell her he's here?" I ask Corey.

He seems indecisive at first, "Yeah, I guess"

* * *

**Dean's POV**

I hate Punk's face. It actually makes me feels physically ill. I hate that he got to take Nikki out and I hate that he's been with her while she ignores me and my phone calls. I bet he's the one making her ignore me, I mean it's not like I did anything _that_ terrible to her.

My phone vibrates in my pocket for the umpteenth time tonight. I know who it is, but I reach and pull it out my pocket just in case it could be Nikki. No luck, it's Veronica, _again_. I haven't spoken to her since that night and I don't think I plan to for a bit longer, she fucked up. And so did I, but no one has to know about that. It'll just stay between myself and Nikki. We'll work it out, Nikki can't stay mad at me, she could try her best but it won't happen. She's in love with me. I act like I don't know, but I do. I can't do anything about it though, I'm with Veronica and I love Veronica, there's no getting around that.

But sleeping with Nikki, that was a way different experience then I've ever had, sleeping with Nikki was amazing. I know me bailing in the middle of the night doesn't make it seem that way, but for fuck's sake I had just slept with my best friend! I didn't want the awkward "holy fuck we just slept together" morning, and with the way Nikki feels about me, I couldn't stand seeing the hurt on her face.

I look around and see Seth with Alexa pretending to be a happy couple, and Roman's talking to Punk and Corey. I need to get some air, I pull the pack of cigarette's out of my pockets and yank one out heading outside. I'm not suppose to be fucking smoking, and I've actually been really good about not smoking, but I got this stressed feeling almost, that's hanging over my head and smoking kind of makes me feel a little better. I light my cigarette and take a few pulls, eves dropping on this asshole from campus' conversation about this broad he banged the night before. "Get this, the girl tells me she hasn't heard from her boyfriend in however long and she's just depressed about it, so she came to the party to get out of her slump" he explains to his group of friends. "5 minutes into the conversation with her, I knew I had her." he boasts. What a piece of shit. The girl is even worse, I'd hate to be that poor sap that she comes laying next to the following day.

I walk past them taking the last drag of my cigarette and flick it to the street, finding Nikki coming out of a taxi. My eyes immediately go down to the ground, I can't even look at her the same. I've seen her naked. "Hey" I call out as she tries to make it by me without being noticed.

"Hi" she answers coldly. I suppose I deserve this treatment.

"I tried calling and texting you all weekend" I tell her, shoving my hands into my pockets. "I know Friday you were busy with whatever his name is-"

"His name is Phil" she cuts me off. She sounds so annoyed, and I'm hurt to be honest. "Yeah, I was busy. I was on a date with a gentleman. He opened doors and made sure I was comfortable the entire time" she boasts, and I'm irritated by it. Why is she trying to shove this in my face?

I look down at notice the stint on her finger. I grab her hand and pull it to get a closer look, she tries to pull back but I have a firm grip on it. "What happened?"

"Nothing" she sighs, pulling her hand away.

Her eyes are boring into me, I wonder what the fuck she's thinking. I want to look at her but I can't, what if I look at her and want to sleep with her all over again? _No_. I finally look up at her, and when I do I notice a bruising on her forehead. "What the fuck happened to you?" I ask, placing my hand gently on her neck and pulling her closer to me.

She pulls herself away and shakes her head. "It was an accident" she answers, her voice more annoyed than before.

I nod, and hold the door open for her to enter the bar. "What'd he invite you here or something?"

She nods and continues in. "What'd you fuck him already?"

* * *

**Nikki's POV**

Did he really just fucking ask me that?! I give him a disgusted look and make my way through the crowd trying to find Phil. I try to move fast to lose Dean, but it's pointless. All the guys are crowded together.

"Yes? No?" He antagonizes, finally making it to my side again.

"If you have to ask that, then you really don't know me at all" I answer, and smile at Punk. The smile that comes across his face is unlike anything I've ever been greeted with before. He's so perfect. I give Alexa and Seth a little wave and they both look at the three of us awkwardly. What's wrong with these two? "What's up?" I ask them hoping they'd shed some light on the surprised looks on their faces.

"Nothing" They answer in unison.

"Hey beautiful" Phil whispers in my ear and I could feel the flutters in my stomach. Dean's staring at us, and it makes me uncomfortable. I quickly peck Phil on the lips, and then wave over at Roman. "You want a beer or something?" he asks.

"No, I'm okay" I answer.

Phil looks up at Dean, as if to ask if he wants anything and Dean shakes his head. "Alright, I'm gonna get a water. Be right back, ok?"

Dean nods at Phil as if he was being spoken to and then looks back at me. He waits until Phil walks away, sliding into the spot where he just stood. "Did.. You stay over his house?" I'm exhale loudly to show my frustration but he isn't breaking. He just staring at me waiting for an answer. Balls on him to ask me something this personal. "So yes? No?"

Seth and Alexa are exchanging looks with each other and then are back to staring at us.

"How about that's none of your business?!" I finally snap. Why is he even around me? I don't hate Dean, I don't think I ever could or will, but that moment of realization I had in the car with Phil just showed me that Dean has held me back a lot since I've met him. I can't help but be extremely annoyed by his questions and his presence right now. He was supposed to be my best friend, and to sit and realize that all he's ever done was stop me from being truly happy, that pisses me off.

He moves closer and throws his arm around me. He smiles like he was joking, and I yank away from his touch. "Don't.. "

"That's how it's gonna be Nikki?" His voice growing louder.

I gain a look from Roman, I think he's in as much disbelief as I am that he's getting this upset right now. He comes over and stands to the side of us both. "Are you drunk?" he asks Dean.

"No. I'm fine" he says, scratching his fingers through his hair frustrated. "I've done nothing to her, absolutely nothing" he begins telling Roman. I roll my eyes and turn my back to him, I'm not listening to this. I'm glad sleeping with me, disappearing for however many days and then calling me, 'just another girl' is nothing. Whatever, I came out to have fun. I can hear Roman trying to calm him down, but he's overshadowed by the sudden uproar of the crowd by a play on television. "I've been there for her more than anyone! She treats me now like I'm nothing because she has this new moron. She's being a fucking brat!"

Did he really just call me a brat? That's it. "You've never been there for me! You've never been there! It's always Veronica, _everything_ else, and then Nikki! Stop playing the fucking martyr!" I shout.

"What's the problem here?" I hear Phil's voice cut through the chattering of the bar like a knife. I immediately stand in between and make myself the barrier. He pulls me behind him protectively. "You have a problem?" He asks Dean.

Dean moves around Roman, that all too familiar sadistic glare appearing. If Dean knew better he'd just walk away. He knows better, however won't do it. It's always his pride that gets him into problems, and well, Veronica too. "I'm good, dude" Dean smirks, taking a step closer towards Phil. Jesus, Dean! "I think Nikki can defend herself if she has a problem. She doesn't need your 'knight in shining armor' shit" he continues. I grab onto the back of Phil's shirt and pull on it lightly. Roman's watching both men closely in case.

Phil laughs, and Dean's smirk slowly fades. "That's really cute, but um..She's _my_ Nikki" he tells Dean grabbing my hand. "We're gonna leave. Me and Nikki, alright?" Dean stands there in awe. I don't know if he's planning Phil's murder or if he's just really in awe of myself being called Nikki by someone, other than himself. Phil takes my hand into his and leads me out through the same back door, he did the night of my birthday.

I don't dare to look back, not once, did he really just say that to Dean? No one is allowed to call me Nikki, not even Brie, when I'm around Dean. That was kinda .. hot. "Where are we going?" I ask Phil, once we reached outside.

He turns to me and chuckles , "I have no idea. I was just being a dick" He shrugs, placing his arm around my neck and pulling me in, kissing my forehead. The smell of his cologne fills my nostrils, that smell is memorizing. I'll never forget it, "I didn't even want to be here anyway." he says, he's trying to distract himself, but deep down I know he wants to hurt Dean.

Normally, I'd be furious that I just spent money on a cab to come to the bar for about 3 minutes, but Phil just defended me and that's alright in my book."Alright"

"Let's get food or something, I need to walk away from this place before I go back in there.." he trails off. He kisses my forehead again, and hugs me tightly to him. His hug is perfect, I feel like I fit perfectly in his arms.

I glance inside the bar window before answering and find Dean watching us. Veronica appears out of nowhere and runs towards him, wrapping her arms around him and kissing his face repeatedly, tossing him out of his stare. He faces her, and pulls her in closer kissing her like he hasn't seen her in forever. Devin's standing there awkwardly, not really sure of what to do with herself. Ugh, I want to go in and keep her company. I break my gawking and turn back to Phil. "Yeah… I'd like that" I finally answer.

* * *

**Devin's POV**

When I agreed to come to Brook's tonight, it was to have a girl's night with Veronica. Not to stand her third wheel while her and Dean make out like high-schoolers. I look around and find Corey and Roman talking, just fucking great. This night just spells disaster.

"Hey, I'm gonna leave with Dean, okay?" Veronica says, when Dean heads to the rest room.

I can't say I'm really shocked, the moment I saw her run to him I knew I was a second class citizen but, leaving me alone for him? "I came out..for you" I answer. I sound shocked but I really shouldn't be.

"Yeah but, Devin. Come on" She counters. "It's Dean. We're going to try to work things out"

"Working things out, how? By being thrown over the side of his bed?"

She let's out a laugh in shock, hitting my shoulder. "Devin Taylor! You're so fresh, but, yeah, how else?" she answers as if it was silly of me to ask such a thing.

I roll my eyes. "Yeah, fine. Whatever"

Dean comes over pulling her away from me and towards the exit. "Ok, bye!" she shouts and she goes along.

I stand in the middle of this crowded bar, and fold my arms across my chest. I've never felt more out-of-place in my life. I still feel awkward with Roman, Seth and Alexa are playing pool in the back, and here I am. Alone. Yes, Corey is here but, I do not want to get involved with that. For all I know Paige is hiding in a garbage can waiting for the moment where I speak to him to rip my head off.

I feel a touch graze my arm. It's one of two people, Roman or Corey. Please be Roman, I silently pray turning around. "Come here" Corey mouths. I pretend I can't understand what he's saying and walk a little further down the bar, finding an open spot and taking it. I lean myself on it and wait for a bartender to come by.

"This is on the guy down the bar" the bartender tells me sliding me over a drink. I don't even look over, I know it was him. I push it back at the bartender and shake my head. "It's from Corey" the bartender tells me and slides it back.

"No, thanks" I answer, sliding it to the side of me. I'm not entertaining this game of back and forth. "I'll have a beer, please"

He laughs, "You've either played this game with Corey before or you really just want no part of him"

I purse my lips, "Can I just have a beer?" I try to keep the annoyance from peeking through my voice, but I think I did a horrible job.

I get my beer and slide the cash on the top towards him. "It's on him" he says and I roll my eyes.

"Fine, there's your tip!" I shout. Why is this man so persistent?! I turn around slamming into a body I swore I wasn't there a minute ago. "Sorry" I say looking up to find Corey's smug grin.

"Are you ignoring my drinks?" He pretends to be offended. I should've just fucking stayed home tonight. I try to walk past him, but he continuously blocks me. "Listen" he says, grabbing a hold of my arms. "I'm really sorry for Friday, alright? She's really just .. crazy" I look past him at the televisions behind him, making it very clear I'm ignoring him. She's crazy? He left me! Ugh, just thinking about that night makes me angry. "Devin.." he calls when he finally realizes he's being ignored.

"I don't care." I answer staring at the television, I have little to no idea what the hell is going on during this game.

"So why are you mad?"

"I'm not" I reply. I don't know who I'm trying to convince more, myself or him.

"Alright. But you just really seem annoyed-"

"You left!" I yell at him. He stares at me for a moment before a smirk forms on his face. "Why are you smiling? That was like the worst date I've ever been on in my life."

"Ah, so you considered it a date?" He taunted. I'm glad he could find humor in all of this. I shake my head let him know my displeasure and go back to staring at the television. " I think.. you should let me take you out again" I scoff at his statement. I'd have to be completely desperate to go out with this guy again. "Even if it's just to sit at the coffee place or some shit and you let me help you write your bio paper" I stiffen at his last few words. Fuck. My biology paper! "From the looks of it, you haven't started it"

"I'm already done" I lie.

"Alright, so come over Tuesday. We'll go over it _together" _he emphasizes.

"Fine" I sigh. Once again, coerced.

I Remember when I said I was desperate? Well I fucking am. I need to get Bayley to fucking write this paper for me. The only way she would be if I tell her I'm going through with this entire agreement thing and go on a few dates with Corey. I feel guilty for doing it this way, but let's be honest, Corey could really give two shits less what happens between us. He's just being a typically guy feeding on us girls through our vulnerable college stages. He won't get anywhere with me though, that's for sure. This is all for the love of passing my classes this semester.

"Alright, I'm gonna head out, I'm beat" Roman cuts in.

"Can you take me home?!" I implored. Please for the love of god Roman, don't let me down.

He looks at myself and then at Corey. "Sure" he cautiously answers, as if he's waiting for Corey to interject.

"Okay, thanks. Meet you outside" I slam my untouched beer down on the bar and head out the door ahead of them without a goodbye.

* * *

_**THANKS FOR READINGGGGG AND REVIEWS ARE SOOO VERY HELPFUL.**_

_**DEARONICAAA IS BACK.**_


	15. Chapter 15

_Your words in my head, knives in my heart. You build me up and then I fall apart._

* * *

**Alexa's POV**

I walk into the cafeteria and notice Bayley in the usual spot. I need to talk to her, not her in particular, but someone. I've held this in for way too long and I think I'm going to explode if I don't say something. "Hi" I greet with a huge smile on my face. She has her books all spread out on the table, and she's jotting things down from all of them. Crap, Bayley's in the zone.

"Hey" she says without looking up. I frown and slide into the chair across from her. "What's up?"

"Nothing" I reply, while I think of a way to bring this up. I got it. "So, I'm really sorry about that night, in the car"

"What night?" She asks without breaking from her books, she continues writing.

I roll my eyes, "the night with me and Seth fighting on the way to food" I explain.

"Oh, that?" She scoffs. "It's fine, I've seen worse, Veronica is Devin's best friend remember?" I nod, and sit back in my seat, frustrated that my first attempt was blocked. "By the way.." She begins, "what were you going to ask me?"

"Huh?" What's she talking about? I didn't say I had to ask her anything.

"That night you were fighting with Seth, you said you were going to ask if I knew something and then Seth got ...really angry" she says as if treading lightly. Her eyes are still intently on her texts books. I could squee with delight at the fact that the door has just swung wide open.

"Oh.." I scratch my head pretending to think. I know, I might be laying it on kinda thick. "Um.. So... Okay you can't tell anyone okay?" I begin. Her eyes slowly come up from her books and meet mine. "Nicole and Dean. They slept together" I whisper.

"What?!" She yells, earning glances from guys at the table next to us. "Who said? Are you sure? No way! Who said?!" She blurts.

I quickly stand up and slide into the seat next to her. "Seth told me"

She goes from attentively paying attention, to sulking in her seat. "He's not reliable!"

"See, I didn't think that either. However, Sunday we were at Brook's and Dean and Nicole were being so weird with each other and they got into a big argument and Punk called Nicole, Nikki. Then they left, and then Veronica showed up out of nowhere" I let out all in one breath. "And let's be honest, Bayley. This is the longest Dean and Veronica have ever been 'broken up', it makes sense." I say adamantly, I've had plenty of time during class and cheer practice to make this all connect.

She contemplates it for a moment, and nods slowly. "Actually that makes so much sense."

I nod, and smile proudly. I may be the baby of the little group, but I'm good with putting shit together. "However, the other part Seth told me, I'm not too entirely sold on"

"What was it?! Tell me!" She grabs onto my wrist.

"He told me Corey knows, because him and Nicole are pretty close" I begin.

"I know what?" Corey says, sliding into the seat across the table. I just stare at him in shock with my mouth wide open. Oh shit, this was supposed to be a fucking secret. "Tell me short shit" he says nudging my arm. "I want to know, what I know that concerns you two" he smirks.

I turn to look at Bayley who's already intently staring at me. "You know about Nicole and Dean" Bayley blurts.

"What about them?" He asks confused, sitting back in his seat.

"You know, you could trust me, Corey." Bayley begins, "we already know that you know about them two"

"What, that they fought the other night?" He chuckles, "alert the campus paper that two best friends fought" he mocks, and Bayley furrows her eyebrows at him.

"No" she snips. "That they slept together."

He leans in, looking at both of us closely. "What?"

"Don't pretend you don't know, Seth told me Nicole told you" I counter.

"What? Why would Seth even say that? I had no fucking clue that they slept together"

Did I just fucking hear him correctly?! Another fucking lie? Why would Seth say that Corey knew? And then it hits me like a ton of fucking bricks .. DEVIN. I am boiling right now. "So... We just told .. You. For the first time.. Ever?" I ask.

He nods, taking out his from his back pocket, he begins typing on it feverishly before Bayley leans over and snatches it out of his hand. "You can't tell Punk!" She yells at him. "Please!"

"He's my best friend. I have too, Bayley!"

She pouts, with her eyes begging him unmercifully. "Please, don't. Please. Nicole finally has something good, she's moving on. Please?"

I glance back and forth between the two of them. Their eyes never taken off one another. Corey shakes his head, "..Fine" he answers. "You're so lucky -"

"Hey losers" Veronica greets, knocking us out of our intense conversation. Ah, she's back to her usual bitchy fucking self. God, I wish Dean would have held out a little longer with ignoring her. That few days without her was amazing, almost heaven like "How is the poor side of this group of friends doing?" She laughs at her own joke as if it's the best thing she's ever heard.

"Just getting some really great information, actually" Corey cheeses.

"Ah, I just got the same on you." Veronica answers, pulling her chair away from him in disgust. "I would just give up on trying to get with Devin, that's not going to happen. She doesn't date men whose job is to fake wrestle like they use to when they were 5 years old. She doesn't date poor college guys, who can't make up their mind about their major either. She, above all else, definitely doesn't date anyone without a trust fund." If she wasn't a woman, I'm sure Corey would've hit her already. "By the way, Mr. Graves, when was the last time you were tested? I mean with all the partners you've had.."

"You know what!" I shout, standing up from the table so fast that my chair goes crashing down on the floor behind me. "I can't wait to see you, when your fucking world comes crashing down around you. You're a pompous bitch, and you have so much karma that's making its way around to you. I can not wait!"

If there was ever a good person to take my anger out on it's definitely Veronica. Now, to find Seth.

* * *

**Corey's POV**

Remind me to thank Alexa next time I see her for putting Veronica in her place. I look over at Bayley who's gathering her books while glaring at Veronica herself. "Don't tell me you're leaving me here"

She smiles at me and shakes her head, "No, I'm waiting for Devin. I have to give her something"

I nod and look over at Veronica, "it must be lonely being such a bitch, huh?"

"Don't speak to me, spazz." How I would love to ruin her entire day and divulge the information I was just given. I won't, but it would be a really good fucking thing to see.

A pair of hands come over my eyes suddenly, I try to pull them down but they stay put. Fuck, please do not let this be Paige.

"It's Nicole" Veronica says, and you could hear the hatred in her voice. She just had to ruin any little fun we were having, of course.

I pull the hands down again, and look up at Nicole who's just as annoyed as Veronica is by each other's presence. "Why is she here?" Nicole asks, looking at myself and Bayley.

"I'm not really sure" I answer with a smirk.

"Watch it, Graves. I have no problem telling Dean -" Veronica snaps.

"Yes, please run to Dean" Nicole cuts her off. "We all know how much you missed being able to do that while you were broken up" she continues, rolling her eyes.

"Someone has a little problem with me being back with my Deany" Veronica counters in a bit of a sing-song voice. Jesus Christ, I think she wants to die today. "Is it possible that someone is jealous that Dean always, always, _always_ comes back to me? Instead of someone who has altered their ... dare I say look, just because they thought it would grab his attention?" She smiles.

I stand up from my chair immediately, grabbing Nicole from doing any sort of damage. I know at some point, I'll regret stopping her but I don't want her wasting getting in trouble for this snob. That's exactly what Veronica wants. "Chill out" I whisper to her, holding her tightly. "She's just jealous Dean will never love her as much as he loves you" I tell her and her eyes immediately meet mine. "Just let it go, she wants this."

"Hi?" Devin greets in confusion. She looks at me, then down at my hands that are tightly wrapped around Nicole's arms. She looks at Veronica, and sighs loudly. Devin tired of her best friend's bullshit as well? This could be a good thing. "Can you stop antagonizing her? It's really getting old, and one day no one will be there to stop her." That was actually kind of sexy. Go Devin.

* * *

**Veronica's POV**

Is this girl fucking serious?! I practically made her into _the _Devin Taylor that she is today and she has the audacity to fucking go against me?! Oh, Devin Taylor you have just been added to my long shit list and jumped right to the top. I am enraged "Devin Taylor do _not _take her fucking side!" I yell, catching her off guard. I like that she jumped when I yelled at her, it shows she's scared of me. Never bite the hand that feeds you, Devin. _Never_.

Dean appears from what seems like out of nowhere and yanks me out of the chair eyeing Nicole. I may or may not have told him last night, how she texted me relentlessly during our break-up and said how shitty of a person he was. I also may have slipped and told him she encouraged me to look for someone else to hook up with , and I did, _only _after following his best friend's advice of course. She does know him best after all. I mean, I did leave out that I did hook up with someone else, but that's just little things Dean doesn't need to know, or will ever find out.

I look at him and back at them, smiling. Please. Please one of you fucking shitheads say something about me to him. I want him to rip you limb from limb. Whether it be physically or emotionally.

I hear Corey scoff, and shaking his head at us. I place my hand on Dean's back and move him forward, don't let him get away with that you moron.

"You got something you want to say, Graves?" Dean's already in defensive mode. Good, he got the hint. Next time react with me motioning you.

"Go away" Nicole answers, her voice cracking. "Just leave. You're so stupid" Boo- fucking- hoo. Blubbering fucking Nicole has made her return to us once again. Only my water works work with him, sweety.

Dean let's go of my hand, and when I look up to him, pity is washing over his face. Fuck this. I grab his face and kiss him hard, distracting him. I could hear someone 'ech' from somewhere around us, jealous assholes. I pull off him, smiling at them again. "Ta-ta!" I wave, blowing a kiss.

I take his hand and pull him with me swinging the door open, making sure he doesn't look back.

Hmm.. this girl at the door looks familiar. Ah, yes, Paige. "Babe, Corey is trying to get with Devin Taylor, could you believe that?" I laugh, saying it loud enough for her to hear as we pass by.

_Don't mess with me, Devin. I told you_

* * *

**Paige's POV**

Corey's trying to get with Devin? Did I just hear that little twit correctly? I look through to window and find Corey getting close to her, a little too close. She's fucking giggling like some psychotic school girl and that really gets my wig twisted. I'm the only one allowed to giggle at his stupidity. I'm going to stand here until she's by herself, I'll stand here all night if I have to. At some point she will be left alone. I'll just call Corey, I'll tell him I want to come over he can never deny midday sex from me. I pull out my phone and dial, watching him in through mirror. He takes it out, stares at it, and hits the end button.

_No_.

She's so lucky I love her sister, if it wasn't for her and Seth, I would've killed her the other night. Literally killed. Seth and I came to the understanding that night, I was only to get Corey out of the restaurant, I couldn't lay hands on Devin. I was obliged to follow those instructions. After all, he told me what Corey was doing behind my back.

I've warned Corey. I'm the only one. There shouldn't be anyone other than myself, ever. Regardless if anything we ever are is sex, I'm the only one.

My phone vibrates knocking me out of my thoughts and it's a message from Corey.

**I can't talk. In class. **

"Oh, you lit'l shit" I say to my phone. Fine, let's see what he says after I tell him, I want to see him after his 'class'.

**Can't. Plans. **

"Well, tha's a bit rude" I roll my eyes. Today's Tuesday, I don't remember him having wrestling tonight. "Wres'ling tonigh'?" I say aloud as I type it and send it.

**Yeah.**

I sigh frustrated. There's no way he would hang out with her without Seth knowing. After I finish stalking this little twit out, I have to go to him. He'll know, Seth knows everything. Corey gets up from the table kissing the top of her head, the rage makes me shake. Calm down, Paige. It doesn't matter that he won't hold your hand in public, or even wrap his arms around you when you're cold, but he just kissed the top of her fucking princess disgusting head. I don't know how great I am at reading lips, but it almost seems as if he said he'll see her later. I laugh, yeah right, Corey would never put someone in front of wrestling.

A half hour passes before the others disperse from around her. I'm going to go over to her. I want to make sure that anything that ever crossed her mind that night is never thought of again. Corey is mine, and I don't share.

I walk over to find her reading over some stupid text-book, and lift myself onto the table. My rear on top of her book. She looks up at me and I tilt my head to the side a bit, smiling at her. " 'Ello, we meet again. It keeps happenin' to us"

She seems as if she wants to speak but nothing is coming out of her mouth. She nods and tries pulling the book out from under my bottom. "I was .. k-kinda using this" she says as she struggles. I lean to my left side releasing the book as she yanked and watched as it hits her chin hard.

I laugh, and her face is flushed. "You're quite clumsy"

"I -" she begins and then sits back in her seat. She takes a deep breath, she's trying to gather her thoughts, I make her uncomfortable. Good, the message should be very well delivered then. "I don't want any problems with you. I don't know what goes on with like you and Corey..-"

"Oh, good! Speakin' of him. Corey, Corey, Corey. Okay, so.. He is mine." I say leaning towards her. She pulls the book close to her chest, gripping it for dear life. "We sleep together every nigh'. I stay at his house. There's no room for anotha. Ok?" I keep my smile in tact and watch as she becomes more uncomfortable by it.

"But I- "

"No." I cut her off, placing my index finger on her lips, her entire existence tenses up even more than she already was. "No. I _fuck _him every nigh'. There is no you. I will hurt you, Ms. Taylor. Do you understand me?"

"But I've been there when you aren't" she snips. It was like she had a small bit of confidence and that was the sentence she decided to spew before her death.

I grab her books flinging them behind me, and then grab her stack of notes throwing them in the opposite direction. I get as close as humanly possible to her. "I will fucking hurt you" I repeat as serious as ever. I look around at the mess, I might have gone a bit overboard with the books and paper throwing. I hop off the table and pick them up, placing them in a neat pile in front of her. "I really, _really_ hope we don' need to talk abou' this again" I smile.

* * *

**_THE PAST FEW COMMENTS HAVE HONESTLY MOTIVATED ME TO WRITE SO MUCH MORE. THANK YOU SO FREAKING MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO HAS REVIEWED THIS FIC.. YOU HONESTLY RAISE MY FREAKING SPIRITS. _**

**_THOUGHTS ON PAIGE AND VERONICA? (and everything else, of course lol) XD_**


	16. Chapter 16

_"But I still stay, cause you're the only thing I know" -_

* * *

**Devin's POV**

I swing open the mailbox of our apartment, snatch the mail out from it and stop up the stairs to my apartment. I'm so freaking annoyed! Paige and her psychotic ways, how dare she threaten me! I swing the door open and slam it shut hard. I toss the mail across our coffee table and hear Bayley scurrying off her bed and coming to the living room.

"Whoa" Bayley says, when she spots me. "What the hell is that all about?" She heads to the fridge, grabbing a water bottle and tossing it over at me. She gathers the mail together looking through the envelopes briefly, "well?" She adds, waiting for me to answer.

I sigh in frustration, opening my water and taking a big gulp before I begin speaking. "Paige.."

"What about her?" Bayley inquires.

"She found me today, alone. She basically threatened me about being around Corey? She's really crazy, like completely insane." I explain and watch the corners of Bayley's mouth begin to curl. "Don't fucking laugh, it's not funny!"

"I just really can't see Paige doing that. She's so fucking cool" Bayley counters. She lets a giggle escape and I fling my water bottle cap at her face. This is in no way fucking amusing. My life was just threatened and this shit head of a little sister, just laughs it off. "She was probably just having some fun with you is all. Paige is just with Corey for the sex, she's told me herself... several times"

"No, Bayley. This was really insane the way she was. She threw my books on the floor and like my papers." She bursts into a full on belly laughing fit. "Fuck you, Bayley" I say shoving past her in my room, slamming the door. "I'm not fucking meeting up with Corey either!" I yell at my closed-door.

Immediately, the laughter stops. She opens my door slowly and peeks her head in. "You can't do that you told him you'd go. You're going. I already wrote your paper, you _have_ to go. That's part of our deal."

"Well, you could take your fucking paper back because I'm not going." I spat. I really need this paper, I have not a clue where to even begin, but I rather write a shitty paper myself then have to sit with him and worry if Paige is coming to murder me.

She glares at me for a moment before coming at me full speed causing me to fall back onto my bed. "Get off of me!" I yell, trying to fight her off of me. She's too strong, though everyone is stronger than me, emotionally and physically. She sits on me, grabbing both of my arms and crossing them, wrapping them around me.

"We will stay in this position until you decide to go." She says trying to get comfortable.

"Do you not understand where I am coming from?" I struggle. "I see the way she looks at me, it's like she could picture herself murdering me and then like eating my corpse or something."

"She's not going to know where you're going. You're being ridiculous"

"How'd she know we were at the pizza place?!" I exclaim, trying to escape her hold once again.

"Maybe one of her friends? Who knows?" She shrugs, barely affected by my poor attempt. "But!" She shouts, letting me go suddenly and jumping off me. "I have to tell you something!" I sit up, awaiting her news. "Actually... I don't know!"

"What! No! Tell me!" I beg, and watch as she paces the width of my room, indecisive as ever. "Bayley ! Tell me!" I demand. This has to be something.. big. Something huge, she never asks like this for petty things she hears.

She stops her pacing and stares at me with a mischievous smile. "How bad do you want to know?"

"Tell me, shit stain!"

"Say you'll go meet with Corey and I'll tell you!" Damn her! She knows I need to know all the current gossip. "It's like really crazy stuff too, Devin. You can not tell Veronica though!"

I shake my head confused. Veronica? "I haven't even spoke to Veronica to be honest"

"No. Swear. Swear right now, no telling Veronica and that you're going to Corey's." Bayley demands.

"Fine"

"Swear!"

"I swear." God, I don't even see the big deal.

"Um.. Okay, so wait, well first, Seth and Alexa have fought a lot lately. I feel like it has to do with you" with me? What about me? "Like that night going out with Corey, the argument was intense, and Alexa told him to stop like following you around" she continues without giving me a chance to ask any questions. "That she was his girlfriend and not you. Then he did that thing with his voice when he lies" I nod, so I wasn't the only one who noticed this. "Then they went on a tangent. So, anyway, long story short! Not really, anyway! So okay, here's what you can't tell Veronica, seriously Devin"

"Just fucking say it!" I yell in anticipation.

"Dean and Nicole" I'm on the edge of my freaking bed. Just let it out already! ".. they slept together"

I just stare at her for a few moments in completely disbelief. I heard the words but can't seem to have them all flow together. They slept together? Is that even okay? When did this happen? "What?"

"Yeah" she nods.

How can I not tell Veronica this? She's my best friend. And it was her boyfriend! But, Nicole's my friend too, a close friend, and a _good_ friend. Dean I couldn't really care less about but, Veronica. Ugh, this is like such a shitty situation. I honestly wish I didn't hear this now. It goes against girl code to not tell your best friend the rumor going around in our circle of friends. An overwhelming feeling suddenly takes over me. I need to just get to Corey's.

* * *

**Corey's POV**

I swing my door open and find Devin standing there, in what I assume, will be her normal attire for my house. Big sweats, a t-shirt and her big red rimmed glasses with her hair tossed into a sloppy mess atop her head. A bun, they call it? I don't know. I smile at her and make way for her to head in. I love how she tries so hard to be 'unattractive', just makes me want her naked - more than I usually do.

She gives me a little smile and a roll of the eyes as she passes me. What? Am I that obvious? "Hi" I finally greet, as she takes off her moccasin looking things off, and tosses herself into _my_ chair. I think about busting her chops to get out of my seat but decide against. She actually looks a little relieved to be here, let's not ruin that. "Wanna get working on it?" I ask.

She scrunches her nose, and adjusts her glasses before answering. "Do you have beer? I feel like I need a beer"

"Uh.. yeah" I answer, caught off guard by the question. "I'll get you one" I say, heading into the kitchen and grabbing two of whatever we have left from the past Sunday's leftovers. I open them and hand her one, watching her take two big gulps before wiping her mouth with her sleeve. "You okay?" I ask.

She nods and then shakes her head. "Just... Uh, I don't know, nervous about my paper" she replies, in more of a question then an actual statement. I don't think that's really what's on her mind, but I'm not pushing anything.

"Don't be nervous, give me it" she looks up at me and then slowly turns to her bag, pulling out the papers and hesitantly handing them over. I take it from her and begin to read it, taking a swig of my beer. Wow. I didn't think she was dumb, but I also didn't think she was _this_ smart. Her vocabulary is outstanding, from the way Bayley described her, I saw her as the beauty and not so much the brain. But here she's clearly proved me wrong. I glance over at her and observe her playing with the label on the beer bottle. "Wow.." I finally say after reading the first couple of paragraphs.

"What?" She asks nervously. I ignore her and continue to read a little more "Well, what is it? Does it suck?" She has a bit of an angry tone in her voice and I'm not sure why. I look up from the paper to find her fidgeting with her sweater. She's moving around in my chair as if she's uncomfortable and she's picked off all the paper from the label and has made a mess of the floor. She looks down at the debris, and frowns back up at me.

God she's fucking adorable. I laugh and shake my head. "No. Not at all, this paper is ...perfect, Devin." I compliment.

"Really?"

Her cheeks become flushed, and I smirk. There's nothing to fix in this paper. She came over, to simply spend time with me. Fuck yeah. "Swear."

She lets out a sigh of relief and polishes off her the rest of her beer. "Okay, good. I guess, I'll go home then"

What? No. Fuck. I scramble for something to say, but nothing is coming to mind. You're always thinking on your feet, come on! "Uhh.. Did you eat?" I blurt out.

She shakes her head, "I'm not really that hungry. We could go out in a little though. I don't mind staying around the house. I mean I don't want to stay because of you - I just... I mean-" she starts getting all flustered and I just stare at her with my best poker face on, watching her dig herself deeper. "It's not you. It's me" she says, and then shakes her head as if she's scolding herself. She takes a deep breath, sitting back in the chair and glances back up at me. "Can I just have another beer?"

"Rough day?" I ask with a small chuckle.

"Kind of" she responds, and I could hear her turning on the tv from the kitchen. Alright, good, she's comfortable. "Hey.. Where's Seth?"

I roll my eyes, "probably at Alexa's"

"Oh, okay" she answers.

I walk into the living room and hand her the beer, plopping into Seth's chair, watching and waiting to see what channel she lands on. "You wanna talk about your day?" I ask, and she shakes her head continuing to flip through channels.

A loud knocking at my door makes us both jump. Devin immediately stands up from her seat and runs into the bathroom locking the door. Alright? I swing open the door finding Seth standing before me. Fucking great.

"Hey, sorry left my keys at Alexa's. I'm just gonna shower and grab clothes really quick then I'm out." He lets out all in one breath as he hurries pass me with his soccer gear. He tosses the things into his room grabbing clothes and coming back out making his way to the door. "Psst" he calls to get my attention. "Who's in the bathroom?" He whispers. Just as I'm about to answer he continues, "Paige?"

I don't know why, but I lie. "Yeah, Paige" I nod. "She's having one of her moments" I whisper back.

He drops his hands to his side and sighs annoyed. "I'll just get ready at Alexa's then" he huffs, going back into his room to grab his belongings. "I'll be back later" he eyes me, as if telling me to have, who he thinks is Paige in the bathroom, under control.

"Alright, dude" I whisper, closing the door. Not a moment later is the bathroom door unlocking and she peeks her head out, taking a quick glance around before coming out. "What's wrong with you?" I chuckle.

"Was that Paige?" She asks, slowly coming out.

I look at her, confused and shake my head, "No." Why would she even think I would have the two of them in the same area? "It was Seth." She mutters something under her breath and sits back in the chair. Her phone dings and she pulls it out typing on it feverishly. "Hot guy texting you?" I tease.

"No" she rolls her eyes. "It's Veronica" I scoff and her response. That fucking snob, how could anyone be friends with that piece of shit. "What's that for?"

"She's a shitty person" I answer truthfully. From the corner of my eye I see her furrow her brows at me. "I don't know how a person like you is friends with such a shit person" she gasps at my frankness. "Unless.."

"Unless what?" She quips, frustrated.

I love when she gets frustrated, her voice this adorable thing where she tries to be angry but it just comes off sounding a little less sweeter than usual. "Unless ...you're just like her, and hide it much better".

Her eyes widen, and jaw drops. "I'm nothing like her!" She exclaims, more offended than I thought she would be. "How dare you say such a thing?!"

"Ah, so you do know how fucked up she is. Why do you hang around with her, if you know?" I ask, and she seems baffled by my question. She opens her mouth to speak, but each time, she seems to think she has a good point, she stops herself.

"Oh, please. Like you're so much better!" She finally speaks, rolling her eyes. Again she mutters something under her breath.

I smirk, and shake my head. "What are you muttering over there, Little Veronica" I tease.

"I'm _nothing _like her" she enunciates angrily, getting up from my recliner.

There she is, trying to be angry again. I shrug turning my attention back to the TV, until I hear the door slam. I sit up quickly, taking a quick glance into the kitchen. "Devin?" I call into the empty apartment. "Fuck" I scramble out of my chair , and head down the steps as fast as my feet would go. I made it to her just as she was about to close the door. "Stop, I'm sorry. I was joking!" I tell her, grabbing a hold of the top of the door and holding it open.

She looks up at me with this adorable pout, that I doubt she even knows she has on. "I'm a nice person" she argues. "I'm not like her, she does bad things behind people's backs. I'm not like that. I'm not like her, or you, or your stupid girlfriend, okay? I don't just sleep around and I don't just threaten people's lives because they're meeting up with you to fix a stupid paper. I'm a good person, I'm a fucking virgin for Christ's sake!" She yells all in one breath.

I shake my head at my first attempt to process everything she just said. "What? Who threatened you?" I ask, before she even answers, the other round of information smacks me in the face. "You're a virgin?" I continue in disbelief. I mean, has anyone seen her? How is she still- I stop my thoughts and look down at her.

Her cheeks turn a bright shade of red and she rolls her eyes. She tries to move my hand away to attempts to get in her car.

Stupid time to bring that up, Corey.

"Just let go of the door" she fights and I grip onto it tighter.

"No, who threatened you? What are you talking about?"

"Like you don't know"

"Obviously not" I snap. "Are you going to tell me, or what?"

"Your girlfriend -"

"Paige is not my girlfriend" I cut her off, irritated at how she's been labeled.

"Well, whatever. Whatever she is, she told me she would hurt me if she knew I hung out with you." she begins, and I could feel my insides burning. Fucking Paige. "At first, I didn't believe her, but then she was like really creepy and weird and she threw my books. I mean, you've seen her, but it was worse than the restaurant" She finishes, keeping her eyes focused on her lap. She lets down her hair and runs her fingers through it a few times, before bringing it all to the right side of her face. She fiddles with her fingers while I take all of this in.

I let out a loud exasperated sigh, startling her a bit. Son of a fucking bitch. Fucking Paige, this is the last fucking straw. I'm absolutely fucking done with this bullshit. She only does it to Devin because, well, look at her. She's this dainty little thing, that I highly doubt would ever defend herself against Paige - or anyone, for that matter. What do I do? Tell Devin, Paige would never do anything? That's a fucking lie and a half, I'm not really sure if Paige would or wouldn't. I lean my forehead, on my arm that's resting atop of her car over the door. "You scared of her?"

"No" She answers without much thought. She looks up at me through her lashes, "Okay, yes. Only because she's .. I don't know not well. She seems to really, _really_ enjoy… all of .. _you" _

I bite back a laugh. This girl is absolutely precious, and I kind of feel bad this happened to her. I don't think she has one bad bone in her body. "Climb over to the other seat" I tell her and she looks at me. "Move, we'll go to eat. It'll be fine, I'll protect you" I tease with a wink.

She lets out a smile and hesitantly climbs over to the passenger side. "Don't drive crazy, if I get a ticket, my dad will kill me!"

"I got this princess" I answer, slamming on the gas pedal out of the parking spot.

"Corey!" she yells letting a laugh escape and hitting my shoulder. "That's not funny!"

It's something about the way she says my name. I mean I've heard a whole bunch of times from a hundred different girls but never the way I heard it come out of her mouth. Devin Taylor, you are fucking dangerous.

* * *

**Paige's POV**

I look at my clock on my car's radio. _11:35_. I've been sitting here for an hour, I went to the gym where he usually has his wrestling performances. I sat and waited, and then I sat and waited some more. Waiting for his name to be called, waiting for him to stroll down to the ring in that cocky way that only he can do. I waited..

He never had a match, he lied to me. I sat there like an idiot, trying to surprise him. Trying to be that one person that will always be there for him - something he's never had - and he lied.

Headlights come flashing through my car and I duck down into my seat, hoping not to be seen. The car shuts off, and I could hear them talking. He's talking to her. He's with her. I try to maneuver myself to turn around to see what they do. Doesn't seem like much, just talking about nothing important really. Giggling on her behalf, that God awful sound. I hear him tell her to text him when she gets home and my stomach immediately goes into knots.

I hear the door close again and I start slithering back down in my seat again. I throw my sweater over my head so that I blend in with the darkness. I hear footsteps walk by and I quickly throw the sweater off of my head looking behind me to make sure he car pulled away. I turn back and let out a scream.

"Get out of the car, Paige" he says, leaning on the hood of my car. "You think I don't know your car by now?" His voice is cold. He doesn't want to see me? This is a bit odd.

I quickly oblige, and go to him for a hug. I know he lied, but I can forgive him. He's Corey, my Corey. He grabs my arms, and pushes them away. "Corey.."

"Do not fucking 'Corey' me, Paige" he says angrily. "What the _fuck_ is wrong with you?"

"Wha' do you mean?" I laugh, "Nothing is wrong with me. Jus' , I've missed you" I go in for a hug again, and again I'm denied. "Wha's gott'n into you?"

"Did you fucking threaten Devin?" He asks, looking me in the eye.

"Tha' girl is crazy. Don' , don' believe a word tha' comes out of her mouth" I answer shaking my head.

"Is she? Is she really crazy?" He asks, and I nod. "Can I tell you the truth, Paige?" I nod again. "You really want me to tell you what I think the truth is?" I nod again, however a little more hesitant this time. "I think you're fucking crazy, and I mean, don't get me wrong, I've always fucking knew there was something a little fucked up, but this, threatening a fucking girl that's, that's like a whole new low. Even for you"

His words hurt my heart. He certainly can't mean all of this rubbish. Maybe he's had a few drinks, he can be a bit mean when he has a few drinks. "Have you been drinkin'?" I smile, easing my way towards him again.

"Paige." He says my name as if he's lost all sorts of patience with me. "Paige, this is over. There is no more. _This_ is no more." He says pointing his finger towards the both of us. "I will not sleep with you, I will not speak to you. I can't. This is fucking insane!" He grows even more angrier with each word that escapes his mouth. "I can't fucking believe you! Is this what you do, you intimidate every fucking person that comes into my fucking life!?"

"I wouldn't say ev'ry _person_" I answer, and he takes his keys out of his pocket throwing them with all his might towards the front door of the apartment building.

"This is not fucking okay!" he yells, running his hands through his hair and down the back of his neck. "I fucking regret you. Every fucking minute, every second!"

He regrets me?

A water droplet trickles down the side of my nose and for a second I think it's raining. But then my vision becomes blurry, and when I try to blink it away, the tears just keep flowing. I keep wiping them away, but more keep falling. "Don' say tha'"

"No, I fucking mean it. What the fuck goes through your head? You think I'd find that attractive? Tell me honestly, tell me what the fuck makes you do that?" He grits through his teeth.

He seems as if he's really trying to hold back from yelling me. I can't tell him, no. I will not tell him. This will go against everything.

"You're just gonna stand there now? Pretending you don't speak your mind every minute of the day? Fucking fine." He starts walking towards the door to the building and I run after him, grabbing a hold of his arm. "Let go. Paige stop"

"Corey, stop." I sob, I try to control, it but I just can't. My tears are flowing freely and I've lost control of how to breathe properly. He tries to pull his arm away but I don't let go. "Corey please. I'm sorry!"

"You always say that. It's the same thing!" He shouts, without looking at me.

I still have a firm grasp on his arm. "Corey!" I plead, before drowning into a fit of my cries. He stops for a moment, and I'm trying hard to regain my composure but I can't. He's just staring at me crying and I feel so foolish. "I-I-" I try to get out more, but that's all I can manage.

"Stop, you're going to make yourself sick" He says in a softer voice than he has spoken in. He sits me down on the step leading up to the building and crouches down next to me. He exhales loudly, shaking his head, and I'm not sure if it's at the situation we're in or just at myself and the crying.

"I love you" I blurt out, mid hyperventilating. "I love you. This is why I do, wha' I do"

He doesn't say a word, barely even makes eye contact, he just sits next to me on the step. "I know you do" he finally says, a few minutes later.

I think I could feel my heart actually breaking.

When you tell someone 'I love you', regardless of how you think they feel about you, you expect them to reply with 'I love you too'. When anything else besides that comes out of your mouth, you're entire world feels as if it's been destroyed. I blame these American Disney movies that were shoved down my throat as a small girl.

"Why don' you love me back?" I choke out.

He rubs his face, looking away from me. "I can't. I don't know how" he answers in almost a whisper.

Is he ashamed of not being capable of loving? "I'll show you how. Let me show you how to love"

"Paige.."

"Do you think you can love anyone else? Is tha' why you're with her?" I wipe the tears away, now I'm annoyed. "If you can't love me, whose been there for you, through everythin' so far, who's been there for you when no one else has even given you a chance, tha's jus' .. " I don't even know where I was going with that. "Jus' why not me?"

"No, there's nothing. There's nothing between me and her" he answers.

"Corey, I've seen you. You have never taken me out on a date, you have never hugged me in public or even kissed my forehead." I'm getting worked up again. "You've never smiled at me or even given me the slightest bit of acknowledgment tha' you give her!" I want to ask him what he honestly thinks of her, but stop myself. I don't think I can handle anything right now.

"Paige, you knew this! This isn't a surprise to you, you were fine with this from the beginning!"

"But.. I'm not fine with it now!" I begin crying again and I almost despise myself for it. "Can I stay over?" I ask, I feel pathetic.

"It's not a good idea" he replies, and I bury my face in my hands and cry harder. He's denying me. Things were not supposed to be like this. That stupid little shit. She ruined everything.

I spend god knows how long weeping into my own hands, when I feel him stand up from next to me, "Stop crying, come on." he says, I wipe my face and look up at him. I feel dreadful, I must undoubtably, look it. "One last time" he nods towards the direction of the building door and I quickly get up, following him in before he changes his mind.

I hear his phone buzzing in his pocket, but he doesn't bother to answer it.

For that, I'm grateful.

_This isn't over. _

* * *

_**sorry I'm the worst at updating. **_

_**this chapter just popped into my head yesterday and i just needed to get it all out. **_

_**reviews are amazing and keep me super happy. I love your feedback **_

_**xoxox**_


	17. Chapter 17

**Seth's POV**

The constant buzzing of my phone, stirs me out of my sleep. I blink a few times, trying to get my vision right. Does that clock say 6am? Who the hell is texting me at 6? I unwrap my arm from around Alexa's tiny frame and reach back to the nightstand, grabbing at the phone. That all too familiar asterisk appears on my screen, Paige.

Which reminds me, I have to find something new to put her under in my phone. An asterisk is way too obvious.

**_Why wouldn't you tell me they were together? _**

**_Yeah really some great best friend you are that she hides such information from you. _**

**_However, after what Corey and I just did, I highly doubt he's going to think of her for a while. _**

**_That little Virgin Mary. _**

What is she talking about? Who was with Corey? I place the phone back down on the dresser, and rub my eyes. "It's way too early for this" I groan, trying to find my comfortable spot. I'll deal with her later.

"Hmm?" Alexa moans in her sleep.

I shush her, and kiss the back of her head, pulling her in a little closer. "Nothing, babe" I coo with my lips pressed up against her head. I close my eyes and try to fall back to sleep but the phone continues to vibrate.

"Babe, your phone" Alexa mutters. "Shut it off or something"

"I know" I groan, "I'm sorry." I slam my hand down on the phone and grab it again, reading her new slew of messages.

**I know you're reading these!**

**How did you not tell me that Devin was with Corey last night? I had to sit outside of the apartment last night and wait for him. **

**He told me we were over last night. OVER. **

**There's only one reason that'd be and that's because of YOUR best friend. **

**Fix it. Fix it all now!**

I sit up, jerking Alexa off my arm. Devin? "That son of a bitch" I let out, remembering how Corey has specifically told me it was Paige in that fucking bathroom at our apartment last night.

"What? What's going on?" she asks sitting up next to me, her voice full of concern. I pull my phone away from her view and place it down next to me.

"Just soccer shit" I lie. Fuck, I hate that I do this to her. I'm walking on extremely thin ice with Alexa and lying. She caught me in the lie about Corey knowing about Dean and Nicole, and to be honest, I'm not even sure how I got myself out of that one. I just caught her on a really busy day, she was too busy focused on her exam the next day then to think about what I was telling her. I can't even remember what I told her, if she ever asks me to repeat that story, I'd be completely fucked. I really can't help it though. I can't tell her the truth, I can't tell I'm trying with every bit of me to keep Devin away from Corey. "Go back to bed, baby. I gotta meet up with Coach."

"At 6 in the morning?" she questions, laying back down and looking up at me as I climb off her bed.

I nod, and throw on the pair of jeans that are tossed on the floor. I search around her room for my shirt, and her small giggle makes my eyes land right back on her. She tossed it on at some point last night, and she looks too adorable for me to ask for it back. I shake my head and smile at her quickly gathering my things and heading into the bathroom to wash up, brush my teeth and head out to meet Paige.

"Hey babe" she calls to me, in her sweetest voice, while mid brushing my teeth. I peek my head out and give her a nod in acknowledgment. "You'd never lie to me, right?" My heart drops to the pit of my stomach. "I mean, I know you told me you lied about the Corey knowing about Nicole and Dean fiasco, but like that was just to protect Nicole and Dean. But, you wouldn't lie to me about anything else, right?"

Why is she asking me this? Does she know something? Is she starting to question my entire bullshit story that I gave her for bullshitting about Corey? "No" I choke out, and continue brushing my teeth. I need to get the fuck out of here before she starts questioning me more. I don't know if anyone else notices, but when I lie I do this stupid voice cracking thing that if anyone knew, would give me away in a heartbeat. I've always done it, since I was a toddler. It just happens, I guess it's my nerves.

I finish up and grab my phone, placing it into my pocket, lean over and kiss Alexa's forehead before heading out the door.

When I'm sitting in my car, I pull my phone out again and type back

**_I'll meet you at your dorm in 10._**

* * *

**Devin POV**

I don't know why I'm walking down this hallway, or why I feel like stopping and running in the opposite direction. I'm just confused. Lunch with Corey was...different? I couldn't tell if he was mad at me and for the life of me, I can't figure out why I care. He was nice, as nice as he could have been, but he couldn't fight his asshole tendencies. He compared me to Veronica. But for whatever reason, I can't get this kid out my head. So here I am, walking toward his room. I smile at random people. I hope my bummy cat sweater and sweat pants are going to bother him. Inside I'm cursing at Bayley and I hate her for sending me here. '_He took you out to dinner, it would be a nice gesture to walk with him to campus' _I keep hearing my sister's voice replaying in my mind. The only reason I was here yesterday is because of that stupid paper I didn't even have to get proof read. Bayley wrote it and Corey thought it was perfect. I could tell by the shocked look on his face that he was surprised that I could write something like that. I couldn't be mad though, because I didn't write it.

As I turned the corner, I see Seth standing outside of Corey's dorm. I put my hand in the air to wave at him, and opened my mouth to say hi, but then I stopped. Seth, my Seth, my best friend, smiled at Paige as she walked out of Corey's apartment. She hugged him. And he hugged that vile broad back. "What the hell?" I didn't know what I was doing, but I before I could stop myself, I was stomping toward them.

Seth stared down at me all shocked, "D-Devin! Hi" his voice cracked.

I slammed the dorm door, pushing them further into the room as I kicked off my moccasins. "What the hell are you doing there Seth?"

Paige rolled her eyes, and I just wanted to smack her. She had a stupid smirk on her face as she examined her black painted nails. "He lives 'er you know?"

Seth held up his hands, "Paige, please."

Then I figured it out, he was the one who was telling her where to find Corey. "It was you!" I yelled. I pushed him, yelling random things, "You know she hates me and you- you!"

"What the fuck is going on!" I hear Corey yell and feel someone grab me, he's never seen me so mad. Part of me expected him to be shocked, but he's not. He's too busy staring at Paige.

"I didn' do anythin'." Paige smiled at him sweetly while Seth just stood there with his mouth open.

Corey pulled me away and into his room, and I could tell Paige wanted to rip my head off. He looked at me, throwing me onto his bed. I took my hair out the bun on the top of my head, and ran my fingers through it. I sniffled, feeling pathetic. He put his hand on my face, inspecting for injuries. "She didn't hit me." I muttered, wiping my tears away. I felt so stupid. I'm so going to yell at Bayley later.

"What happened?" He sighed.

"Seth." I chocked on the feeling of anger in my throat. "He and Paige are friends."

He laughed. He laughed at me and probably thinks I'm crazy. "No they aren't. He fucking hates her." He yawned, leaning in the doorway. I could tell he was still sleepy, but I didn't care. I'm mad at him too.

"I saw them, they were hugging and-"

"And what?" He snapped. I jumped, and I looked up at him wide-eyed. He'd never been testy with me before.

"Don't yell at me! It's not my fault Seth is the one telling her where you've been!" I scream, standing up and stomping my foot on the floor. I put my hand over my mouth, "I didn't mean to say that."

He put one hand up to silence me. "What?" I didn't say anything and he took a step toward me. I flinched. He looked to angry.

"I think Seth is keeping tabs on you." I muttered, wiping away my tears. It all made sense. No one else that night is a fan of Paige, besides Bayley who thinks she's cool. But she'd never do that. She's too nice and she wants me to date Corey so that's out. "When we all went out to eat, and Paige showed up?" He nodded and I continued. "I didn't think anything about it then, but it makes sense now that I saw them hugging."

He tore out of the room. Seth was pacing back and forth, but Paige was just sitting. She got up and smiled at him. She threw her arms around him and I wanted to throw up. He took her arms from around him, "Give me your phone."

She looked at him angry and confused, "Whuh? Why?"

He grabbed it, looking through it. She tried to take it back. But he was reading the messages. He lunged at Seth, but I stood in the way. I grabbed his arm and pulled him into the bathroom. "No." Seth was still my best friend, and Corey would definitely kill him. "Stay in here." I stepped back out, and I scowled at Seth.

"Devin-"

"Don't-" I stopped him, "You just couldn't help yourself could you? You're so worried about me when you have Alexa?" He looked at me wide-eyed, "You think I don't know that you are always keeping tabs on me and worry about me? I'm not stupid Seth! But you knew Paige hates me and you just didn't want me around Corey, did you?" I'm yelling at him, but I don't care. I grabbed Corey's shoes and a hoodie before leaving the room. I pushed past Seth and he grabbed me. I smacked him, and he pushed me away. I wanted to apologize, but I wouldn't. "If you knew me at all, you'd know Corey and me aren't even friends!"

I stormed into the bathroom, throwing Corey's stuff at him. He stared at me, but he wasn't mad at me. He got dressed and opened the door. He looked at Paige and glared at her, "Get your shit and get out." He pointed at all her clothes on the floor, I could tell he wanted to say more but he didn't. I assume it's out of respect for her, that he for some reason still has.

"Corey.." she pleads, and he ignores her, heading back into his room and slamming the door so hard, I think it's going to fall off from its hinges. She turns on her heel coming towards me. This is it, this is where I fucking die. A virgin.

I die a virgin, in the home of a man who's probably devirginized several women.

I close my eyes waiting to be knocked upside my head, where did all that courage I had 5 minutes ago disappear to? God knows, I for sure need it now. "Paige, do not" I could hear Seth's voice, but I don't dare open my eyes.

"You're dead" she whispers as she passes me by. I hear the door slam and I flinch.

I open my eyes, finding Seth still in front of me. I never in a million years thought I'd despise him this much. He looks like he has so much to say, but I don't want to hear any of it. I can do nothing but shake my head at him, his sneaky ways and his stupid lies, when did he become like this? The very person he ever hated, he was becoming, right before my eyes. It made me sad. We stand there just staring at each other, I'm sure we could both go back and forth for hours right now, but we stay silent. I don't know what's going through his head, but this, this is for me, is where the pedestal that I once kept so high for my best friend, is lowered.

Corey rips open the door again and heads into the bathroom. It's just then I realize I'm still in this freaking apartment and I have no idea why. I need to get out of here.

* * *

**Corey's POV**

I come out of the bathroom and Seth's still standing there, in the same spot he was the entire time. I could knock his fucking lights out for the shit he's pulled with Paige. All that I can't stand your girlfriend shit. I wonder if he's the one who's been telling her about the other ones all along? I stare him down, but I don't even think he notices me. He's just staring where Devin is… or was?

"I'll deal with you later" I tell him, pushing past him and heading down the stairs. Two days in a row I've chased this broad down. I never chase broads.

"Devin!" I call as she reaches her car, or 'daddy's car' as I dubbed it last night. I catch up just as she's unlocking her doors. "Where are you going?" I ask, and she just sort of stares at me.

"I don't even want to speak to you!" She begins yelling, her frustration clearly being released onto me. "You give me this whole song and dance at dinner, how you're so frustrated with Paige, and blah blah, I'm done with Paige" She mimics, in what I think is supposed to be my voice. "And I come the next morning and here you are, with her, and her clothes all over your bedroom floor!"

I cross my arms and rest them on my chest, staring at her as she completely loses her shit. "Why did you want it to be your clothes on the floor?" I joke, and I'm taken back by the sudden punches and shoves that come from her. She's really trying with all her might, but they're having no effect on me.

"You are not funny! You're - I don't even know! I don't see what Bayley and Nicole see in you at all, because all I get is this cocky show off, douche bag who thinks it's okay to make fucking sex jokes all the fucking time!" Wow, that stings a little. "News flash, we're in fucking college! Sex jokes were left in high school! I try! I really, really tried to like give you a fair chance, because oh my god, Bayley will not shut up about you and how awesome you are and so 'bad ass'. But honestly, honestly, all I see in front of me is some misogynistic asshole."

I have no witty come backs, or a rebuttal. I just got ripped apart by this princess like I've never been ripped apart before, not even my father has ripped me limb from limb like she just has. I shove my hands into my pockets feeling pretty fucked up. Fucked up about what she just said, about how I let her down in a way, and how I've completely let the two closest women, besides my mother, down too. "I'm not like that…" I finally speak up and she scoffs. I don't blame her. "I… uh.. I'm sorry" I've never apologized to a woman before, it sort of never happens, I just usually do what I do and never feel bad about it. But I do with her, and that freaks me the fuck out.

She climbs in her car, ignoring my apology.

"Devin, seriously, I'm sorry. The joke was stupid. Let's just, we'll start over."

"There is no starting over, this isn't like some fairytale shit" she spews.

"I know, I know. Just listen, we've both had a fucked up morning, we'll fucking skip the school thing for the day, I'll take you out for breakfast and we'll talk, just me and you. None of the bullshit, just you and I" She places her face in her hands and leans her head onto the steering wheel. I know I said we've both had a fucked up morning, but I didn't just realize my best friend was fucking me over. "Whaddya say, Devin?"

* * *

**_I seriously have to give MAJOR props to Chelsie who wrote the Devin part of this chapter. She is the best and all I did was add a little touch here and there. Thank you, thank you. _**

**_She really lit the fire lol .. _**

**_NikkiPink, Breigns and maybe some Dearonica ( I know you ALL miss Veronica) next chapter _**

**_Reviews are fucking great and they really make me happy. _**


	18. Chapter 18

_I keep going to the river to pray; cause I need something that could wash all the pain. _

* * *

**Brie's POV **

His lips are moving but I can't really focus on what he's saying. Quite frankly, I hear nothing. I'm in awe of how this gorgeous man sitting across from me in this diner is my boyfriend. It doesn't happen this way for girls like me. I'm the brain, the forgotten twin of the Colace sisters, and he, he isn't suppose to be interested in me at all.

We come from very different backgrounds, I grew up in a broken home and he has this huge family who's with each other through everything. I mean, he's already mentioned how badly they want to meet me and we've only been together a few months. He's one of the best football players in this college, and I'm ... one of the smartest? He's a drinker and I'm not. He lives for his sports and I left soccer behind me years ago. However, for some reason, regardless of how it looks on paper, he's here with me.

Sometimes I lay in bed when he's fast asleep and wonder how I managed to grab this Adonis' attention mid football game, as he claims. I'll never forget that night, I think I'll tell that story at our wedding, if we ever get to that point, that is.

"Alright, I'll stop talking now, you have that look in your eyes" he says, placing his hand on mine and knocking me out of my thoughts.

"What look?" I laugh, placing all my attention back on him. "I was listening" I fib, and flash my best smile trying to convince him.

He lowers his head, letting out a laugh and intertwining his fingers with mine. I love when he holds my hand, it makes me feel so protected, even with the smallest gesture such as hand holding, I know I'm okay. "Tell me the truth, what were you thinking of?" I shrug, feeling my cheeks begin to burn. "Brianna.."

Ugh, I hate when he says my full name. It's like I instantly lose all of my senses and practically unravel. "Nothing..just you and I." I begin and he stares attentively waiting for me to continue. "How we met and stuff"

"Why is that always your answer?" He inquires, leaning his elbows on the table. "You're aware this isn't a dream right? You got me" he chuckles, obviously joking around.

"Well, to me it's still a dream" I answer. "Like how? How do you see me? And why?"

He rolls his eyes, probably tired of me asking the same thing constantly, "I don't know. You were just there with Dean and Nicole, and I just remember your face literally stopping me in my tracks. I just remember thinking, 'holy shit, she's so beautiful' and I just wanted to talk to you."

I laughed, "you always say that, and it never stops being funny. Nikki and I are twins. We have the same face.."

He chuckled, taking a sip of his orange juice. "You don't actually. Your faces are shaped differently. And then there's the obvious - difference."

I roll my eyes. "Anyway!"

"Yes, anyway" he continues, taking my hand up to his mouth and kissing it softly. "After the game, I have never searched for my phone faster, I texted Dean - keep that twin with you! And, of course, he has no idea I'm talking about you, so I get the 'Fuck off, Nicole's not available'" he laughs, "and I'm like, no the other one! Then, I finally meet you at the bar and you're a bitch"

I bury my face in my hands and try to contain my laughter. What he's saying isn't a word of a lie. "Only because I thought you were just trying to sleep with me! You came over to me like 'I'm Roman Reigns'" I mock, attempting to make my voice as deep and suave as his.

He leans over the table, getting up from his seat and pulling me towards him by the grip he has on my hands, placing a long kiss on my lips. "You're adorable" he whispers.

Our moment is cut short when his phone begins to vibrate. He pulls it off the table and looks at the screen furrowing his eyebrows and then placing it face down. I bite the inside of my cheek, staring down at the phone, and then back at him. He's never done that before, "Who was that?" I ask.

It feels weird asking that, I've never had to ask him, he usually freely gives the information.

* * *

**Roman's POV**

"Huh?" I pretend I didn't hear her. She looks down at the phone again and then at me.

"Never mind" she answers, shaking her head.

I hate keeping things from her, but it's my ex and I highly doubt Brie wants to hear about her right this second. I've never seen a woman become more uncomfortable and self-conscious around another woman like Brie is with Jacqueline. It hurts me, Brie is beautiful, and kind, she's absolutely nothing like her. My mother always says Jackie is my karma for treating Devin like crap. Honestly, I believe it. She might have given me Talia, the greatest gift in my life. But after that, there wasn't much else. She was back to partying and never being around, she'd drop Talia off at her mom's and I wouldn't hear or see her for days. She still does these things now, every once in a while.

Besides, I'm not even sure why she's calling me in the first place. It's not my weekend or day with Talia, though I wouldn't mind the extra time with her.

I look up from my hands and find Brie staring at the phone. I can't do this to her, "it's Jacqueline" I answer and her eyes shoot up at me, she wraps her arms around herself and sits back in her chair. I hate that this is her reaction each time that name comes out of my mouth.

"Oh.."

"I don't know what she wants" I shrug, finishing the rest of my OJ. Where the hell is this waitress? Just bring our food, so we could be distracted for a bit.

"Maybe the baby's sick" she suggest. I didn't even think of that, I grab the phone and text her back. "Oh my god..." She whispers, as the waitress comes over and places our food on the table.

I look and find her staring towards the entrance of the diner. "What?" I ask, looking behind me. I see nothing, turn my attention back to my plate and begin to dig in.

"Devin's here... With Corey Graves?" She whispers as she attempts to hide her face.

"I thought we were over the awkward stuff with Devin? Why are you hiding?" I ask, and she shrugs, her cheeks turning a light shade of red.

"I just still feel like she hates me for hiding that you and I were dating behind her back" Brie whispers, continuing to cover her face and play with her food on her plate.

"Devin's fine. We're fine. Besides, she's not like that, and if she's here with Graves- I doubt we're the last thing on her mind" I reply, attempting to put her at ease. She always assume people think the worst of her. I lost count of how many times I was uninvited and re-invited to their birthday party a few weeks ago. She panicked the entire way there and the entire way back home after we had already spoke to Devin.

My phone vibrates indicating Jacqueline's response to my text. She's asking me where I am? She's such a pest at time, I respond back and place it down- just in time to see Corey and Devin passing our table. "What's up, buddy?" I call out and feel a kick connect with my shin. I look at Brianna 'stop' she mouths, but it's too late.

"What's up?" Corey greets shaking my hand. He looks over at Brie and smiles, "hiding from me, Brianna?"

She moves her hand down from her face and smiles up at him. "No, of course not" she lies, her face turning more red. "Who are you here with?"

"Just brought Devin to get food, long morning" he answers, shoving his hands into his pockets.

Devin has made it to their table with her eyes glued on her phone, without even noticing that Corey had stopped to talk to us. Brie seemed relieved but I wasn't, this wasn't like her, at all. "You both should sit with us" I suggest, and another kick connects with my shin.

"I don't want to intrude." Corey replies.

"Go get her, and you'll sit with us. It's a big booth" I urge. He eyes us both before heading a few tables down to go get her.

My phone vibrates and a simple "ok" flashes on my screen. Ok? She asks me where I am and all I get is an 'ok'? I let out a frustrated sigh and shove the phone into my pocket. Brie's giving me the look of death, but I'm not phased by it. It's just her anxieties getting in the way of everything.

We scoot over as they make their way into our booth - Devin sitting with Brie and Corey with myself. The girls sit their awkwardly listening to our conversation, as if they don't know each other - randomly they'd share a small smile or an eye roll but that's as far as it went.

A loud thud hits the table and it takes me a moment to realize that it's Jacqueline standing in front of our table, and that thud that hit the table was Talia's carrier. I look up at her confused, what is she doing here? "You need to watch her" she answers before I could even open my mouth. She takes a long look at everyone at the table before shoving the baby bag besides Corey. "I have like things to do tonight and yeah, you should watch her"

"I have plans tonight" I protest.

"Babe...it's okay." Brie whispers, but I ignore her.

"I have plans Jacqueline." I repeat and she stares at me, as if that means nothing to her. "You can't just throw her on me when it's convenient - plus it's not even my night with her. You pick and choose when we want to give me time with my daughter and it's like you always know when I have something for my friend or its a big game" I finish. The table is now in complete awkward silence, everyone's attempting to pretend this isn't going on in front of them.

"Okay, well, yeah there are bottles and diapers and all that good stuff to last you through the night. Bye" she replies, my words mean nothing.

"Babe, it's fine. Nicole will understand" Brie says, grabbing a hold of my hand.

"That's not the point, she's been begging us to go to her game" I reply and by the reaction on Brie's face I could tell I was a bit snippy. I don't mean to, I'm just frustrated with Jacqueline. It's as if she knows the nights I have plans and she drops the baby off purposely to do her own thing.

* * *

**Corey's POV**

"Why, what's tonight?" Devin asks, pulling the baby carrier over to her. She tips it forward and smiles at the kid, moving her blanket down a bit to get a better look at her face. "You look like your father" she coos in almost a whisper.

"Just Nicole's soccer game. It's no big deal really" Brie answers, trying to convince herself more than anyone else at our table. "Are you two... Together?" She asks hesitantly, attempting to change the subject.

"No!" Devin shouts, startling Roman's kid. She quickly places her hand over her mouth and awaits a cry. She sits up a bit and checks on the baby before continuing in a whisper. "No. Just here to eat and go back home"

I could feel eyes staring at me but, I just stare at Devin. I could come up with a million stupid remarks to say but I'll bite my tongue. The last time I made a comment she ripped me apart, let's not have that happen again - in front of people. "We're just friends...kinda" I answer, keeping my eyes still fixed on her.

"Not even that" she quips, trying to bite back a smile. Lip biting's my weakness. Stop it now, Devin.

"So how'd this happen?" Roman asks and I look down at my menu. She was such in a hurry to answer the first question, she can handle this one. Wait, am I butt-hurt right now over the fact that she rushed to say we aren't together? No, I'm not. It's just been a long morning, filled with unnecessary drama and bullshit, right?

"I guess, you could blame Seth?" She answers, unsure. "And Bayley" she shakes her head, rolling her eyes. Bayley? What is she talking about?

Roman smiles at Devin and she blushes almost instantaneously. What the hell is that? I've never made her blush, that I can recall or that'd she ever let me see, that is. Christ, I need more sleep, I'm way too sensitive right now.

"And drunkenness" I chime in, breaking up this little blush fest. Again, what the hell am I doing?

Devin looks at me wide-eyed. "What's that supposed to mean?" Roman asks, and Devin's eyes stay locked on mine.

"She came stumbling into the tattoo shop that night after your little party" I begin, eying Brie. "With her cohorts, and to stick to daddy dearest, got herself a tattoo by yours truly" I chuckle.

"If your dad ever finds out your dead" Roman laughs. He knows her dad? I thought they knew of one another, didn't know they were that close. "What'd you get anyway?"

"It's a freaking tiny heart!" She laughs at herself.

That laugh, CHRIST. I look at Brie who just about as out-of-place as I am in their little conversation. I don't like this feeling, this sucks. "Nicole's going to want you at the game. Why don't you two go, and Devin and I will babysit" I blurt out, and everyone at the table stops.

What the fuck just came out of my mouth?!

* * *

**Alexa's POV **

I looked at my phone for the time at least 4 times in the past 5 minutes. I'm sitting here, in my cheer practice get up, sore and impatient. He's late again. Seth is fucking late again. I've been over it for a while, but I guess I can never get rid of the little voice in my head that tells me he's with Devin.

Seth was in such a rush this morning. I feel that's all he's ever in, when he's with me though. I can't remember the last time we laid down or just watched a movie without him constantly checking his phone. He's become rather obsessed with soccer and his coach lately. At least, that's what he tells me. Do I believe him? 95 percent of me does, the other 5 is telling me not to. But, I have to go with my heart, not my gut - and my heart says, everything is going to be alright.

"Lexie" I hear in a sing-song voice, that jolts me from my internal struggle. I look around and find Nikki walking up the steps of the bleachers. "What the hell are you still doing here? The game isn't until a few more hours" she laughs.

"Stupid Seth" I spew agitated. "He swore he'd be on time today, of course, he probably got caught up again" I roll my eyes. As it comes out of my mouth, I feel so stupid for even waiting around and being let down again.

A sympathetic look comes over her face as she plops herself down next to me. "Seth's .. Seth" is all she can manage to come up with. "He has his moments but, I bet this time he has a good excuse"

"Yeah right" I scoff. "I feel like we're either fighting or just .. I don't know- I'm in limbo"

"Well, now you know for next time. You drive yourself" she snips. Nicole's always good to make you realize how silly situations like this would've been easily avoided. She has no tolerance for pity parties and that's probably what I admire most about her. "I could give you a ride though"

"That would be very, very kind of you"

I watch as this tall, tattooed behemoth walk towards us and sits one bleacher below. He has this smile on his face, and he's eyeing Nicole for some odd reason. What a creep. I look back at Nicole confused as to who and what he is smiling at. I am in no mood for suave motherfuckers today. He opens his mouth to speak and I cut him off immediately, "She's taken, don't even try it" I could hear Nicole attempt to subdue her giggle.

"What?" His voice is deep, yet smooth. Both of his arms are covered in colorful ink, and when I look down the tattoos on both legs catch my attention as well. He has his short hair tied back in a messy ponytail and he's carrying football gear in his hand. He's on the football team? I've never seen him before.

"Are you hard of hearing? Too many hits during your games? She's taken, you're barking up the wrong tree." He laughs at my bitchiness and continues to stare at Nicole. I really wish Punk was here, he'd teach this guy a thing or two.

"Alexa.. This is Baron, my cousin" Nicole introduces with a laugh. I know my face is red because I could feel the warmth rising up my cheeks. I'm positive the second-hand embarrassment is as strong as what I'm feeling right now.

"Oh..." Is all I can manage to let out, while they both laugh hysterically. You're so stupid, Lex. It's all my fucking boyfriend's fault, had he been here, like he promised, I wouldn't be sitting here and I would've never have embarrassed myself. Yeah, that's what I'm sticking with and now I'll add that to the list of things Seth has done to piss me off.

"Hi" he says when he's done laughing at my expense, sticking his hand out towards me. I take it and daintily shake his hand. My hands are so small compared to his, and softer. I could tell he's a football player. His hands are rough and callused, not like Seth's. "You cheer, I see" he says motioning towards my bag beside me. I nod, not like the bolded metallic silver CHEER letters give it away or anything. "Good, I expect you cheering for me the loudest at my first game next weekend" he smiles.

"First game?" I question, ignoring the rest of statement.

"Baron just transferred here from Arizona State" Nicole beams proudly. "I'm so happy to have my little cousin here with me!" she smiles, throwing her arms around him and hugging him tightly. Little? This man could eat her whole if he really wanted too.

She jumps at the sound of her phone's muffled ring in her bag, and quick reads the screen. "Oh, shoot. Lex, I completely forgot I had to pick up Punk - his car's in the shop"

"It's fine, don't even worry about it" I reply, I come off frustrated but it's not towards Nicole in any way. It's towards the moron in my life. "I'll walk or catch the campus bus. It's no big deal"

"I'll take you home" he offers and I think about it for a moment.

Do I trust this guy? I mean, he's Nicole's cousin, what harm can be done, honestly? Just as I'm about to answer, Seth pops into my head. He'd probably flip his lid if he saw a freshman football player driving me back to the dorm. But then, fuck Seth, because had he been here on time I wouldn't be in this predicament. Chalk it up as a lost for Seth. I'm still unsure though, I don't want to get into a fight with Seth over this. Ugh, damn this heart of mine. "No, it's okay, it's probably out of your way"

Nicole furrows her eyebrows at me, "Freshman dorms are all bunched together, I'm sure he's going your way. Take the ride, Lex" she urges.

"Okay.." I answer, grabbing my things.

"Behave, Corbin" she warns him sternly, and then turns her attention towards me. "Straight home" she says, pointing at us both. She jogs down the steps and takes off towards the parking lot.

"When you're ready" he says, and takes the bag off my shoulders. That was sweet.

"Ready"

_.. I think_

* * *

**THIS IS ONLY PART ONE - PART 2 WILL BE UP AT SOME POINT THIS WEEKEND ..**

**THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS - YOU'RE ALL THE BEST AND I APPRECIATE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM **


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